Knesset stays stalled for another week

The powerful Knesset Arrangements Committee that governs the Knesset until a government is formed failed to meet again on Wednesday, due to disputes between the camps for and against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Coalition chairman Miki Zohar (Likud), who heads the committee because Netanyahu has the mandate to form a government, said he would not reconvene it until agreements on key appointments and issues have been reached.

The committee met for some two hours late Monday night, shortly after the votes of Ra’am (United Arab List) gave the anti-Netanyahu bloc a majority on the committee. But the meeting ended abruptly, in the midst of a dispute over how many deputy Knesset speakers would be appointed.

Since then, Zohar decided against convening the committee on Tuesday or Wednesday, and it is unlikely to meet until Monday.

Until Zohar’s committee appoints chairmen and members of the temporary Knesset Finance and Foreign Affairs and Defense committee, there is no parliamentary oversight of the government on those key issues. An additional committee on violence in the Arab sector, led by an MK from Ra’am, is also waiting to be appointed.

The presidential election is also waiting for the Arrangements Committee. A date for the election cannot be set until the committee appoints the deputy Knesset speakers who will set the date together with Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin.

Multiple prospective candidates for president came to the Knesset on Wednesday to meet with MKs, including former Labor Party chairmen Isaac Herzog and Amir Peretz, and former Likud MK Yehudah Glick.