More coalition defections imminent, Netanyahu tells confidantes

T. Belman. The opposition needs more than 61 votes as those votes include the 6 strong Arab Joint List except for confidence votes like voting for the budget.

 Religious Zionism Party chairman Bezalel Smotrich says, “I know about [defectors] with a certainty. I won’t get into names but I can say with certainty that the government is finished.”

By  Mati Tuchfeld , Yair Altman and Yehuda Shlezinger, IH    Apr 24/22

It is highly probable that another Knesset member will resign from the coalition, Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu has told several of his close confidantes in recent days, Israel Hayom has learned.

The Opposition is aiming for the potential defection to be announced as soon as this week, even before a Knesset committee convenes on Monday, at Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s request, to discuss the matter of Yamina rebel MK Amichai Chikly’s ouster from the party. According to reports, the Ra’am party, a coalition member, is expected to boycott the meeting.

Last week, Likud MK Ofir Akunis said: “Next week, an announcement should be made that will shake the coalition, after which they will lose the equal number of seats they have in the Knesset.”

Religious Zionism Party chairman Bezalel Smotrich said, “I know about [defectors] with a certainty. I won’t get into names but I can say with certainty that the government is finished.”

The belief is that in recent weeks, mainly following the resignation of former MK Yamina MK Idit Silman and the fact that the coalition no longer has a majority in the Knesset, intensive talks have been held between Opposition representatives, among them Netanyahu and Smotrich, and MKs from the Yamina and New Hope parties with the intention of securing additional resignations from the coalition and a parliamentary majority for the Opposition – which would expedite the government’s downfall.

For their part, senior coalition officials say they are more worried about Ra’am that another defector.

“People don’t understand the pressure the Arab representatives are under. If the security situation escalates, it will be even more difficult for them [to remain in the government],” one senior coalition official said. “[Ra’am chairman] Mansour Abbas is a big believer in the coalition and in no way wants to resign or dismantle it, but within his party the mood is different. People such as [MK] Mazen Ghanem or [MK] Waleed Taha are under a great deal of pressure and don’t see themselves as directly subordinate to Abbas. It’s impossible to tell what will happen there.”

In the Yamina party, meanwhile, officials say they’ve stopped the bleeding in the wake of Silman’s defection and insist no one else will follow in her steps. The brunt of the focus has been on MKs Ayelet Shaked, Nir Orbach, and Abir Kara who, according to their close associates, are not currently interested in resigning.

“The strategy is to take the crisis surrounding Silman’s resignation and leverage it into accomplishments and wins for the right-wing public,” one Yamina official said.

“The Left is just as anxious as the Right. On the left side of the government, they also know that if the government falls apart their chances of returning to power are slim. They want to preserve this government, which is why more significant inroads for the Right are possible, which will placate the right-wing public,” the official added.

Meanwhile, Chikli’s request last week to delay Monday’s Knesset hearing until at least May 25, when the Knesset is scheduled to return from recess, was denied by Deputy Knesset Speaker Eitan Ginzburg – who will oversee the debate.

“The date of the House Committee’s meeting to discuss the request to declare MK Chikli’s ouster from Yamina was determined as is customary at the House Committee and after further examination, we do not intend to change it,” Ginzburg wrote in a letter to Chikli’s lawyer.

The Blue and White lawmaker also denied Chikli’s request to have Bennett and fellow Yamina minister Shaked testify at his hearing.

“The committee is not run like a court,” Ginzburg wrote. “The committee does not invite ministers and Knesset members to serve as witnesses in order to prove arguments at the hearing, and no investigations are held there.”

Ginzburg told Chikli and his team to prepare their arguments “so they will be heard in one meeting,” adding that he does not intend to hold further hearings.

In his petition to the committee to delay the hearing, Chikli’s attorney Guy Bossi wrote that it “was scheduled in haste,” was “lacking legal and public foundations,” and that Bennett’s “forbidden influence” was the only reason it was scheduled.

“Please enlighten the petitioner that we are still a democratic country, that he is not a king or sultan, and despite his desire to do harm and evil, this does not abolish fundamental rights,” Bossi wrote.

Yamina said Chikli has consistently voted against the party’s views, including in hundreds of votes on the state budget.

However, Chikli has said Bennett and Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked have gone against the party’s views, not him.