Netanyahu green-lights bill being drafted by Likud MK to give voters chance to directly elect PM if Knesset is deadlocked.
Arutz Sheva Staff, 25/11/19
As Israel inches towards its third general election in less than 12 months, the Likud is drafting a bill aimed at breaking the political deadlock – and preventing the possibility of a fourth election.
According to a report by Yediot Ahronot Monday, Likud MK Shlomo Karai is drafting bill which would resolve the ongoing political stalemate, giving voters the opportunity to directly elect the prime minister if no candidate is able to build a coalition government.
Under the current system, voters give their ballots to party lists, which in turn negotiate with other parties to form majority coalitions. The leader of the largest party able to cobble together a majority in the Knesset is typically the one selected to serve as premier.
With neither the left-wing nor right-wing blocs receiving an absolute majority in the 21st or 22nd Knessets, however, neither Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu nor challenger Benny Gantz, who leads the Blue and White party, have been able to form a new government. The Knesset now has less than three weeks left to choose a new premier, who will require the backing of 61 MKs, or dissolve itself and go to elections yet again.
But polls show that a third election would likely result in the roughly the same outcome as the previous vote.
In a bid to break the ongoing stalemate, MK Karai (Likud) is preparing a bill which would modify Israel’s election laws, allowing voters to directly select the prime minister, if no candidate is able to form a government in the traditional way.
Leaders of the major parties would face off in a direct election, and the winner would not only receive the premiership, but also an additional 12 Knesset Members, to be allotted to members of the winner’s bloc, allowing the new premier to comfortably form a majority coalition.
The plan has received the backing of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
To pass into law, however, the bill would require the support of 61 MKs in the Knesset – requiring support from either members of the left-wing bloc, or the Yisrael Beytenu party.
@ Bear Klein:
There you go again, misreading my comments…. or in fact NOT absorbing them. Didn’t I just post that Adam had given me confirmation, that where I saw that Likud had an assured majority of seats and probably more to come, was in the Caroline Glick article.. Perhaps it was 64 seats, or 66, but an assured majority…who cares…??? Not me. It’s all changed since Mandelblit played his Likud destruction gambit.
I don’t make things up from thin air. I saw it written by someone whose research and know-how is a thousand times better than mine.
So what do you do….you.ask me for a link….???.. One day I’ll send you a whole chain, and you can use it up, a link at a time. A LONG time I hope. I don’t get “mad” as the American expression is, (to me, “mad” is mentally crazy) but slightly irked that you don’t seem to get the meaning that I insert plainly into my posts, but pounce on piddling little things, as if we were all legal scholars, and in a courtroom, instead of a bunch of know-nothings, (or very little) getting vicarious satisfaction from expressing our views on this site, where elsewhere nobody would bother to listen to them. An agreement or word of acceptance from a fellow poster, is like bestowing a crown. So we feel as though we’re really DOING something..
Seems to me that the only person on this site actually doing a job of work, is TED.
The above are my impressions. Opinions are asked for and freely given, comments are made, and accepted or rejected, but the LEAST a fellow poster should do is read and understand what he’s reading, before responding. If he’s not sure, he can ask…..!!
@ Edgar G.:
Edgar, yes you are entitled your view. I am entitled to mine. You however seem to get mad when I hold a different view and go to prove it.
Please provide a link to show your claim the Likud had 65 seats. It seems very unlikely. As they currently got 32 in the elections. Then you said I am wrong so kindly show me the proof.
@ Bear Klein:
As always you ignore any points in my posts that you wish, and then reel off reams of polls , statistics and a lot of crap that you got from the internet,, that has no connection with our exchange of posts.
You are WRONG. My post WAS about your “head-to head” comment. I should have first written what I ended the post with, as by now I should have known that you don’t read (my) posts all the way through. My beginning was to do with your comment that Netanyahu was only slightly ahead when the indictments were handed down. and the rest of the post concerned the useless head-to-head rubbish you brought into your act.
Today I still see that NO Likud potential competitor has any chance of unseating him, although your constant mantra is that they should do just that. Well…that’s your opinion, I need not be smugly castigated for differing. We all are entitled to our own opinions. Even me.
@ Edgar G.:In regards to my view and past views of Bibi.
I appreciate all the good things he has done for Israel.
I stuck up for him as people further to the right than myself blasted him for things or claimed he was going to give Judea/Samaria to the PA. I proved correct as he gamed Obama and held him off.
I observed as he kept pushing good people out of the Likud who either might be good leaders in the future because he was afraid of competition.
There is a quite a few including Bennett and Shaked.
He has now twice in a row been unable to form a coalition and it is unlikely that he would more seats than last election if here were the candidate. So I say it is time for a new candidate that could get more votes and form a coalition. It is also possible legally even though he is allowed to stay as current interim PM while under indictment he would not be allowed to become the new PM while under indictment. There is such a legal view out there but more than likely if he runs it would be decided by the Supreme Court.
I believe Netenyahu is innocent until proven guilty and he should go full time to try and prove his innocence. Certainly in Case 1000 this will not easy if the leaked facts that he took $275,000 of gifts and did not turn them over to the state and report them.
Israeli law says any public official is not allowed to receive a gift worth more than 300 shekels (~$70). The official is required to report this and turn it over to the state.
Maybe he did not receive the gifts and the reporting is false. Maybe he received the gifts and the paperwork reporting them was lost. Maybe he turned the gifts over and the recording paperwork was lost or stolen.
So there maybe a way to show his innocence about Case 1000. I hope he does. The other cases which include a Bribery charge are much complicated legally.
Just a side note in-spite of the arguments nicely raised by Dershowitz and repeated by Caroline Glick one should note that what can be a bribe is anything of value in a broad sense. It does not just have to be money.
@ Edgar G.:Since we were talking about head to head polling here you are off topic. Also party polling can be found at https://knessetjeremy.com/category/knesset/polls/
which the latest polls show the right block losing and Blue/White picking up more votes. (See site if you would like to see what has been polled)
36 [33] Blue & White (Gantz)
33 [32] Likud (Netanyahu)
57 [54/57] Center-Left-Arab Bloc (Nominated Gantz in Phase 2)
55 [55] Right-Religious Bloc (Nominated Netanyahu in Phase 2)
08 [08/11] Pushing Unity Government (Did not nominate)
Category: Polls
9th Poll of Possible 3rd Election: Blue & White 36, Likud 33, Joint List 13, Yisrael Beitenu 8, Shas/UTJ/HaYamin HeHadash 6 each
Filed under: Knesset, Polls — 5 Comments
November 24, 2019
Panel Project HaMidgam conducted a poll of 761 people with a 4% margin of error that was broadcast by Channel 13 on November 23 2019.
Current Knesset seats in [brackets]
36 [33] Blue & White (Gantz)
33 [32] Likud (Netanyahu)
13 [13] The Joint List – Hadash-Taal-Raam-Balad (Odeh)
08 [08] Yisrael Beitenu (Lieberman)
06 [09] Shas (Deri)
06 [07] United Torah Judaism (Litzman)
06 [03] HaYamin HeHadash (Bennett & Shaked)
04 [06] Labor (A.Peretz)
04 [05] Democratic Union (Horowitz)
04 [04] United Right List (R.Peretz)
Under 3.25% Electoral Threshold
00 [–-] Otzma (Ben Gvir)
Phase 2 Recommendations:
57 [54/57] Center-Left-Arab Bloc (Nominated Gantz in Phase 2)
55 [55] Right-Religious Bloc (Nominated Netanyahu in Phase 2)
08 [08/11] Pushing Unity Government (Did not nominate)
*Balad which was part of the Joint List withdrew the recommendations of their 3 MKs.
Additional Questions:
Can Netanyahu remain as Prime Minister?
56% No, 35% Yes, 9% Don’t know
This was tried and it did not work in the 90’s because of the disconnect between the premier and Knesset. It does nothing to discipline the tyranny of small parties over their selfish obstinacies dodging military service the economy or wrecking perfectly good governments over planes arriving late on Erev Shabbbat or other arguments preferring the strict over the lenient in religious matters.
This time try the Alternative Vote – AV – Australian Vote. According to research in Australia’s long use of AV it accentuates the trend ie punishes small parties being obstinate. Also the transfers of second preference votes indicates to the bigger parties how much of their suppport is conditional on cautious management. Overall an AV vote would also trransfer and use the votes currently “wasted” for not reaching the threshold three and a quarter per cent – that would permit further raising the threshold to 5% to stop frivolous factionalism which could also be clamped by obliging those who leave their party lists to resign and stand afresh.
@ Bear Klein:
In the last few days I saw an article which said that Likud had a sure 65 seats at the time of the indictment crap, plus an expectation of 4-5 more. Can’t recall where I saw it -maybe that Glick article.
This was much more important than head-to-head polling.. In my opinion anyway…
Lately I don’t know whether you don’t like Netanyahu-you’ve never been more than lukewarm about him -or trying to be the 21st cent. Nostradamus on steroids.
@ Ted Belman:
Before Bibi was indicted he was only slightly ahead of Gantz in head to head polling probably within the margin of error.
My guess parties will poll to see who has the best chance of winning head to head and my guesstimate since Bibi has been indicted some people might not vote for him. Things have changed.
I believe it the Likud and the right might be better off with Gideon Saar. I think he would get more voters and have a better chance of forming a coalition.
This law would be great for Netanyahu but it will not pass because the left won’t vote for it for that reason.
What is needed is for Likud to designate a new leader who will lead the Party in the next election. This leader will attract most of the centrist voters who want nothing to do with Bibi. It would also make it easier to form a coalition with B&W or Liberman if it is necessay.