Blue and White threatened to prevent the extension of the current lockdown on Wednesday due to an ongoing dispute over its implementation in haredi (ultra-Orthodox) communities and institutions.In a press conference at the Defense Ministry, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz said there was no point in extending the lockdown if it was not being properly enforced.“We are in favor of ending the political games,” Gantz said. “If there is a lockdown, let there be a lockdown. We asked for equal enforcement. The rights and obligations of citizens are equal, and that means closing down not only Herzliya and Nahariya, but also Bnei Brak.”Gantz said he would not permit a cabinet meeting to be set until a bill is passed increasing fines for yeshivot and other institutions that violate the lockdown. Even a watered down version of the bill was stalled on Wednesday in the Knesset Law Committee, which is headed by United Torah Judaism MK Yakov Asher.The Likud moderated between Blue and White and haredim (ultra-Orthodox) on the bill, but Blue and White did not accept the Likud’s compromise proposals – to give a 48-hour warning to an institution ahead of its closure, requiring three violations for it to close, or limiting such decisions to high-ranking police officers.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu committed his party to backing the bill, but Blue and White officials accused the Likud of expressing support while deliberately preventing its passage.Meanwhile, the lockdown was technically extended through Sunday in a vote in the Knesset plenum that was boycotted by Blue and White.In more political news, the Joint List inched closer to a breakup following another meeting of the leaders of its four parties in Shfaram that did not go well. The religious council of Ra’am (United Arab List) will make a final decision by Friday, but it was already clear Wednesday that Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas would run on a separate list that he will lead.After 32 years, former Labor Party leader Amir Peretz quit the Knesset on Wednesday afternoon. When the resignation takes effect on Friday afternoon, he will be replaced in the Knesset by former Meretz MK Ilan Gilon, who was next on the Labor-Meretz-Gesher list that ran in the last election.Gilon will be sworn in on Monday. Labor, Social Affairs and Social Services Minister Itzik Shmuli is expected to quit the Knesset and join Blue and White next week. He will be replaced by former Labor MK Omer Bar Lev.New Labor leader Merav Michaeli announced on Wednesday afternoon that Labor’s next Knesset list would alternate between female and male candidates.The decision will not impact the Israelis and Hatnufa parties, which are expected to run together with Labor.Meanwhile, the religious-Zionist party of MK Bezalel Smotrich announced a new candidate on Wednesday: attorney Simcha Rothman, the legal counsel for the Movement for Governability and Democracy. Rothman is a graduate of the joint program of Tel Aviv University and Northwestern University.Blue and White MK Miki Haimovich announced that when the current Knesset ends, she is retiring from politics.
Likud, Blue and White fight threatens lockdown
At a press conference at the Defense Ministry, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz said there was no point in extending the lockdown if it was not being properly enforced.
