Opposition strikes down coalition law after Otzma Yehudit absent from plenum

Tempers flared in Israel's coalition on Wednesday after one of its bill proposals was struck down by the opposition in the Knesset plenum, and a number of other coalition-sponsored bills were removed, due to the absence of many MKs and an opposition majority.

The move was a rare win for the opposition and raised tensions in the already-fraught coalition.

Opposition MKs noticed at first that Otzma Yehudit's six Members of Knesset (MKs) were absent, and assumed that they were boycotting the Knesset plenum, a move they have used in the past for political leverage. KAN reported on Tuesday that the prime minister had decided to suspend ongoing talks over promoting Itamar Ben-Gvir to a small war cabinet, after the latter created an uproar during a visit to the Temple Mount on Tuesday. Opposition MKs assumed that Otzma Yehudit was boycotting the plenum as a response.

After realizing they had a majority, the opposition succeeded in striking down a bill in the plenum in a 21-20 vote. The coalition removed the remaining on the plenum's agenda after realizing it would no longer have a majority for the remainder of the day.

The bill that fell was the first reading of a bill proposal by the transportation ministry for new regulations on taxi meters and on car rentals. The opposition supported the regulations, but decided to vote against it when they realized that they could score a political victory and increase tension in the coalition.

Otzma Yehudit said in a statement that it was not boycotting the plenum, but rather that an agreement had been reached between the coalition and opposition that all of the bills that came up on Wednesday would be supported by both parties, and that the MKs were thus given permission not to attend. According to Otzma Yehudit, the opposition had violated the agreement and decided to oppose the bills.

Otzma Yehudit later added that one of its MKs, Limor Son Harmelech, had been present in the Knesset, and that a large number of Likud and other MKs had been absent as well.

However, opposition coordinator MK Merav Ben-Ari explained later that the usual custom is for members of the coalition to be absent only if they found someone from the opposition to be absent as well and offset them. Members of the opposition refused to offset Otzma Yehudit's MKs, and they simply failed to appear for voting.

Ben-Gvir said during his Temple Mount visit on Tuesday that the status quo at the site had changed and that Jews were permitted to pray there. The issue is sensitive as the Temple Mount is a holy site for Muslims worldwide, and security officials have warned that a change on the status quo could lead to violence. The prime minister's office on Tuesday criticized Ben-Gvir's comments, and rejected the minister's authority to determine policy at the site.

Not without criticism

Visiting the Temple Mount is also a contentious religious issue. Most ultra-Orthodox religious leaders oppose it based on halakhic (Jewish law) rulings saying that visiting the site is forbidden due to its purity.

Ministers and Members of Knesset from the coalition's two ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, therefore also criticized Ben-Gvir, with officials in both parties even calling to "rethink" their partnership with the far-right party.

Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid said over the plenum dais, "If you want to know how governments disintegrate and coalitions fall, it is this. Exactly this."

The opposition National Unity party said in a statement, "This is not a coalition – it is a collection of people who are not able to operate together because of petty political considerations. We will continue to act until we topple the government."

The Knesset officially ended its summer session on July 28, but the plenum reconvened on August 4 and August 5. At the end of the session on August 5, Knesset Speaker MK Amir Ohana (Likud) said that the plenum was going to reconvene next at the start of the winter session, on October 28. However, the coalition soon announced that it would convene the plenum once again this week. Now that the coalition was forced to remove legislation from the agenda on Wednesday, it likely will reconvene the plenum once again.