Israeli Parliament Bargains With Netanyahu To Ease Government Collapse

The doomed Israeli government has reportedly offered to bargain with Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party in exchange for a smooth collapse, Israel National News reported Monday.

In exchange for the dissolution of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, by Thursday, the government would drop efforts to pass a bill which would bar candidates under criminal indictment from forming a government – legislation which is directly aimed at former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, INN reported.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s coalition government broke down last week after failing to quell domestic unrest and unite on key legislative issues, including passage of a bill that extended the law to Israeli communities in the West Bank. The existing legislation is set to expire on Friday, but Knesset members hope that a swift dissolution of the current government will allow for a default six month extension of the bill, INN reported.

“If the law expires before the Knesset is dissolved, it will cause total chaos on the ground,” a coalition member said, INN reported. The member said the Likud’s objective is to “blame the government and the coalition.”

The move came in response to fears that Nir Orbach, a former member of Prime Minister Bennett’s Yamina party who switched sides earlier in June, would stall an upcoming vote to dissolve the current government, INN reported. Delaying the process could create an opportunity for the conservative Likud party, headed by Netanyahu as opposition leader, to form a coalition government before Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid takes over as interim leader, according to INN.

Orbach chairs the Knesset House Committee, which is responsible for passing the 11 bills required to dissolve the coalition, according to INN.

The coalition government introduced legislation in 2020 that bans candidates for the prime minister position from forming a government. If the legislation passed, Netanyahu would be automatically discounted as a potential leader to replace Bennett, according to The Times of Israel.

A parliamentary committee had discussed advancing the bill on Sunday, the Times reported.