Knesset digs in for marathon budget debate
Agudat Yisrael-Likud dispute remains unresolved • Budget must pass by May 29
No advancements were made as of press time on Sunday in the impasse between Housing and Construction Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf’s Agudat Yisrael faction and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich over Goldknopf’s demand to receive over NIS 600 million in additional coalition funds, a spokesperson from the party said.
The impasse developed into a crisis last week after Goldknopf threatened that if it does not receive the extra funding, his faction will vote against the 20232024 national budget bills this week. If the budget bills do not pass into law by Sunday at midnight, the Knesset immediately disperses and an election is called.
Agudat Yisrael is a hassidic faction that, along with the Lithuanian-haredi Degel Hatorah faction, comprise the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism Party. UTJ’s Knesset list is made up of alternating Agudat Yisrael and Degel Hatorah MKs, beginning with Aguda. The party won seven seats in the election and, accordingly, Aguda has four MKs and Degel three.
However, on January 6, Goldknopf resigned from the Knesset under the “Norwegian Law,” which enables ministers to resign from the Knesset but also to return to the legislature if they are fired or resign from their ministerial position. Goldknopf’s resignation from the Knesset brought in Degel’s MK Yitzhak Pindrus, and gave Degel a 4-3 edge.
The coalition is at 64 MKs, and therefore four MKs are necessary to thwart a law such as the budget, which requires 61 to pass.
If Goldknopf resigns as a minister, he will return to the Knesset as an MK, and Pindrus will be pushed out. Agudat Yisrael will then have four MKs, and the power to topple the government.
Voting on the budget is expected to begin on Tuesday evening, and ministerial resignations only come into effect 48 hours after they are filed. To give Agudat Yisrael the power to topple the government, Goldknopf could resign in the coming days.
“Coalition funding” is a part of the budget with funds earmarked for fulfilling political agreements made during coalition negotiations. The coalition funding in this budget, which reaches an unprecedented NIS 13.6 billion, includes a significant rise in funding of haredi private or semi-private schools beginning in 2024.
The extra funding that Agudat Yisrael is demanding is to cover retroactively the costs for its education systems during 2023. The party claims that this was part of the coalition agreement between it and the Likud during coalition negotiations in December.
The party also argues that this was the agreement with the Likud already in September, during the 2022 election campaigns. The deadline to hand in party lists was September. The “Belz Agreement” crisis developed between Agudat Yisrael and Degel Hatorah, which nearly caused them to run as two separate parties.
The Belz Agreement was a deal between then-education
Ben-Gvir at an early hour, like a thief, into the Aqsa Mosque square will not change reality and will not impose Israeli sovereignty over it,” added Abu Rudeineh.
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry called the visit a “dangerous and unacceptable escalation” and “a flagrant and unacceptable violation of international law, and of the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its sanctities.
“The continuous violations and attacks on the Islamic and Christian sanctities in Jerusalem, in conjunction with the continuation of unilateral measures of settlement expansion and continuous incursions into the occupied Palestinian territories, warns of further escalation, and represents a dangerous trend that the international community must work to stop immediately.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Ben-Gvir committed a “clear breach of international law.
“It is in no way acceptable that Israeli government members challenge the historical status of al-Haram al-Sharif [Temple Mount] in this manner and commit inflammatory and fascistic actions,” added the ministry. “We call on the Israeli government once again to act responsibly, and to put an end to all kinds of provocative actions violating the historical status of al-Haram al-Sharif that is based on international law.”
The Saudi Foreign Ministry said “these systematic practices are considered a flagrant violation of all international norms and covenants, and a provocation of the feelings of Muslims around the world. The ministry holds the Israeli occupation forces fully responsible for the repercussions of the continuation of these violations.”
Hamas’s Jerusalem spokesman Mohammed Hamada said the terrorist movement would “not leave al-Aqsa alone” and warned that Israel will “bear responsibility for the barbaric incursions of its ministers and herds of settlers.”
Hamada called on Palestinians and Arabs in Jerusalem,
the West Bank and Israeli territory to “intensify” their presence in al-Aqsa to confront “all attempts to desecrate and Judaize it.”
The Tag Meir organization said “Ben-Gvir wants to forcefully change the status quo on the Temple Mount and set Jerusalem and the Middle East on fire. Until when will we continue to pay the price of the irresponsible appointment of BenGvir to the position of national security minister of the State of Israel?”
While about 1,146 Jews visited the Temple Mount on Thursday amid Jerusalem Day festivities, including other coalition ministers, the minister himself did not.
Ben-Gvir on Sunday also referenced ongoing tensions surrounding the national budget, saying, “We need to remember our brothers in the Negev and the Galilee. In the upcoming budget, we must invest in the Negev and the Galilee. Jerusalem is our soul, the Negev and the Galilee is our soul, we must invest, we must act there, we must be the owners of both the Negev and the Galilee, and the foundation of this is the budget.”
The head of the Temple Mount Administration, Rabbi Shimshon Elbaum, welcomed the visit stating “Ben-Gvir has been active since his youth in favor of Jewish pilgrimages to the Temple Mount, and since taking office has already caused significant improvements, removing hundreds of harassers and strengthening Israel’s rule on the Temple Mount.”
On Thursday, Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount raised the Israeli flag while singing the national anthem “Hatikva,” as over a thousand Jews visited the complex to mark Jerusalem Day. Despite the holiday officially being on Friday, most of the festivities were moved to Thursday to avoid a desecration of Shabbat.
Video from the scene showed a man carrying a small flag while the group walking with him sang “Hatikva.”. The man carrying the flag was detained. At least three additional individuals raised Israeli flags on the Mount on Thursday as well.
The MKs who visited the Temple Mount on Thursday included Negev and Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf (Otzma Yehudit) and Likud MKs Dan Illouz, Ariel Kallner and Amit Halevi.
Also on Thursday, Palestinian media outlets affiliated with Hamas, including the Shehab news agency, published a graphic showing Ben-Gvir with a red target over him and the words “Ben-Gvir is a target for our heroes and the wrath of our revolutionaries.”
On Friday afternoon, clashes erupted between Palestinians, Jews and Israel Police near the Lions’ Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem, shortly before Friday prayers were set to begin at al-Aqsa. Two Israeli civilians and a police officer were injured amid the violence.
Footage reportedly from the scene showed Jews dancing and singing in the area before fights erupted and police intervened, throwing stun grenades into the crowd. Palestinians were seen throwing stones at Jewish individuals during the clashes. The windshields of vehicles belonging to Palestinians were smashed as well, according to Palestinian reports. A number of Palestinians were reportedly