BICOM

The Israeli coalition yesterday faced down an attempt by opposition parties to dissolve the Knesset.

Following Avigdor Lieberman’s resignation as Defence Minister last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a wafer thin parliamentary majority of 61 to 59. The Government was forced to cancel all trips and flights abroad for ministers, including Economy Minister Eli Cohen who was due in Europe to sign an economic cooperation agreement.

Likud MK Sharren Haskel left the hospital, against the advice of her doctors, to attend the votes after opposition MKs cancelled pairing arrangements. She sat with an IV attached and raised her hand when it came time to vote while under the supervision of a doctor and a nurse from the Knesset infirmary.

The Government’s turn out led the Opposition to withdraw four separate bills to dissolve the Knesset at the last moment. The bills were sponsored by the Meretz, Yesh Atid, Zionist Union, and Joint List factions. They were withdrawn because, had they failed to pass, the Opposition would have to wait six months to introduce them again.

Opposition Chairwoman Tzipi Livni said: “We took down the bills today, but we absolutely do not intend to take the issue off the public table. The Knesset needs to dissolve and hold elections. A government that destroys democracy needs to go and better sooner than later.”

Culture Minister Miri Regev has been criticised for suggesting that former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz was responsible for the death of Daniel Tregerman, who was killed by a mortar shell that hit his home. Gantz encouraged Israelis to return home to the Gaza border during a ceasefire in 2014.

Regev said that she would not want to see Gantz as defence minister, adding: “The final chord of his tenure as the chief of staff was when he told Israelis ‘go out to pick anemones’ and Daniel Tregerman was killed. The only ones who can lead the security policy are the Likud Party and Netanyahu.”

Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein said: “There is no place for accusations of this type, people should be careful with their words.” Gantz is likely to enter politics as soon as the election campaign starts, but he has yet to announce what party he will join or whether he will establish a new party.