Israel has been thrown into a political crisis that could paralyse the country for months and pave the path for Benjamin Netanyahu’s return to the premiership.
On Wednesday, a prominent member of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s Yamina party announced her resignation from his coalition government, leaving him without a legislative majority.
Bennett’s coalition, which includes parties ranging from the Jewish right to Israeli leftists to a Palestinian party, now has 60 seats, the same as the opposition, thanks to Idit Silman’s announcement.
Although Silman’s resignation does not spell the end of the coalition, it does raise the possibility of Netanyahu returning to power less than a year after losing the premiership to Bennett.
“Key principles in my worldview are incongruous with contemporary reality,” Silman wrote in a letter to Bennett, adding that as a member of the coalition, she could no longer abide seeing those unspecified “values” destroyed.
“Accept the truth: we tried,” she told him. The time has arrived to consider a fresh path. To aim to build a Zionist, nationalist, Jewish government.”
Bennett’s loss of majority in the Knesset, according to some Palestinian-Israeli analysts, demonstrated that the coalition was not right-wing enough for many of its members.
“This has never been a coalition that has been friendly to Palestinians; on the opposite,” Diana Buttu, a lawyer and former adviser to the Palestinian peace talks team, said.
“This government has made it a point to develop settlements and has pushed to demolish more Palestinian homes than any previous.” It also approved a racist statute that expresses Israel’s desire to maintain a Jewish demographic predominance.
“However, with the coalition’s disintegration, we may expect Bennett to go even more to the right in order to garner as many votes in the Knesset as possible.” As a method of appeasing the fascist right, we will see more settlements, more home demolitions, and even more racist legislation,” Buttu told News Agency.
Bennett’s coalition may be able to maintain power with 60 seats, but new legislation will be difficult to pass.
However, if another coalition member leaves, the Knesset might issue a vote of no confidence, forcing Israel to undertake its fifth parliamentary election in four years.
“We must confess that we tried,” Silman wrote in a formal resignation letter to Bennett.
Bennett, whose Yamina party has seen multiple splits and defections since its formation in 2019, did not respond immediately.
Yamina now has only five of the 120 seats in parliament.
Silman was greeted warmly by the same right-wing MPs who had been persistently attacking her since she joined Bennett’s ruling coalition last year, breaking campaign commitments.
“Idit, you’re proof that what guides you is care for Israel’s Jewish character, concern for Israel’s territory, and I welcome you back to the national camp,” opposition leader Netanyahu said in a video.
“I say to my friends who are still in this coalition: come home,” Netanyahu remarked.
“Join Idit Silman and us in bringing Israel back to the path of prosperity, achievement, security, and peace.”
“There is a weak and limp administration in Israel today,” Netanyahu remarked during a special session of the Knesset, which is presently in recess. It has a finite number of days left.”
Netanyahu would need the support of at least 61 lawmakers to create his own coalition without holding new elections.
He is currently far short of that criterion, and does not have the support of all 60 opposition members of parliament. The six members of the Joint List, which is led by Arabs, are staunch opponents of the former prime minister.
