Protests won’t stop Knesset recess

Rivlin and his deputies vote to go to recess as scheduled on Aug. 7 despite calls from Yishai, Livni to stay and solve housing crisis.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin 311 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin 311
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin and his deputies voted on Monday not to extend the current Knesset session, despite requests from Interior Minister Eli Yishai of Shas and opposition leader Tzipi Livni of Kadima.
The move was rejected with a vote of seven opposed and only the Shas and Kadima representatives in favor. The proposal will not be brought to a vote in the Knesset House Committee.
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“The Knesset is not taking the protests lightly, and the recess does not cancel the need for decisions and public discussion,” Rivlin said.
“The Knesset hears the demonstrators, but the government is responsible for responding. If the government plans socioeconomic processes during the recess, which require authorization from the Knesset, I will convene the plenum without delay,” he explained.
Most Knesset faction leaders told Rivlin that they did not favor shortening the recess, which will begin on Sunday. In addition, Rivlin explained that the summer recess was planned for August in order to include Ramadan, and so that MKs could spend time with their children who have vacation from school.
A Kadima source accused Rivlin of “preparing a political escape route for [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu.”
“The Knesset is at the mercy of the Likud’s temporary political majority, and is surrounded by walls of inflexibility,” the source said.
“Netanyahu is using political methods to strangle the public discussion about his inflated government’s failures, but his attempts will not succeed.”