Israel’s ruling coalition is close to collapse after legislature resigns
The development came as Bennett’s ideologically diverse coalition, which includes far-right, liberal and Arab parties, staggered closer and closer to implosion, a year after Benjamin Netanyahu’s record-breaking 12-year rule.
“I informed the prime minister that, based on the current situation, I am no longer part of the coalition,” said Nir Orbach of the far-right Yamina party in a statement published by several Israeli media.
No comment was immediately available from Orbach, whose statement said “extremist and anti-Zionist” members of parliament had led the coalition “in problematic directions.” His statement from him said that he wanted to avoid another election and that he would not vote to dissolve parliament.
although his departure left Bennett’s coalition two fewer than the majority, with 59 seats in the 120-member Knesset (parliament).
Netanyahu, now leader of the opposition and who has promised a return even though he is on trial for alleged corruption, said the government held “one of the longest funerals in history”.
After weeks of wrangling between partners, the clearest sign of the coalition’s weakness came last week when a bill extending Israeli civil rights to settlers in the occupied West Bank was rejected in parliament.
The defeat has brought the prospect of a fifth election in three years closer, although the bill risks returning to the Knesset (parliament) for a second attempt by the end of the month.
The settler law, which would normally enjoy broad support in parliament and has been renewed several times over the past fifty years, has fallen victim to the increasingly harsh climate between government and opposition.
“You are not fighting for our country, but for your seat,” Netanyahu told Bennett, once one of his closest collaborators, during a debate in parliament.
Bennett, a former commando and tech millionaire who launched into national politics in 2013, said his government spurred economic growth, reduced unemployment and eliminated deficits for the first time in 14 years.
“We are fighting for the government these days,” he told the Knesset. “We are fighting because the choice is between chaos and stability.”
