Israel’s ruling coalition loses another MP
ZOABI’S EXIT REDUCES GOVERNMENT’S STRENGTH TO 59 IN 128-SEAT KNESSET
Another member of Israel’s parliament said yesterday she was quitting the ruling coalition, leaving embattled Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in control of a crumbling minority government.
Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi’s announcement further whittles away Bennett’s hold on Israel’s 120-seat parliament, reducing the coalition to 59 seats. Two other legislators from his own party have already bolted.
In a letter to Bennett, Rinawie Zoabi, who hails from the dovish Meretz party, said she was leaving the coalition because she said it too often adopted nationalist positions on issues of importance to her constituents, Palestinian citizens of Israel.
She cited Israel’s conduct at Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque, which in recent weeks has been the site of clashes between police and protesters, as well as continued colony building and the beating by police of pallbearers at the funeral of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh, who was shot while covering confrontations between Israeli forces and Palestinians.
“Enough. I cannot continue to support a coalition that in such a shameful way hounds the society from which I came,” she wrote.
Escalating tensions
Israel on Wednesday said it would allow a Jewish ultranationalist flag parade to snake through the heart of the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, what is likely to escalate tensions
Bennett’s coalition recently lost its own whip, Idit Silman, who said her nationalist values were being challenged under the diverse grouping. Bennett took steps following Silman’s departure to shore up the coalition and punish defectors, but another deserter raises questions about the union’s stability and how much longer it can hang on.
To topple the government, opposition lawmakers would need to secure 61 votes in favor of dissolving parliament or forming an alternate governing coalition. Some opposition members appear to oppose new elections, and it seems unlikely for the time being that Netanyahu has enough support to bring the government down.