Opposition leader and Yesh Atid chairman MK Yair Lapid proposed on Monday meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to set a date for a new Israeli election.
“Let’s spare Israel all the politicking,” Lapid said at a press conference ahead of his party’s weekly meeting at the Knesset on Monday afternoon. “Let’s sit together and fix an agreed-upon date for an election, agree on the rules, and agree on how to handle an election so it does not hurt the war effort,” the opposition leader said.
Lapid’s comments highlighted the differences of opinion among Israel’s opposition parties about holding an election during wartime. While Yisrael Beytenu chairman MK Avigdor Liberman reiterated on Monday a claim he made last week that the divisiveness of an election would harm Israel’s war effort, Lapid, along with Labor chair MK Merav Michaeli, has been calling for weeks for Israel to head to an election, despite the country’s fragile security situation.
Minister-without-portfolio MK Benny Gantz’s National Unity party has held a middle ground, with the party number three MK Gadi Eisenkot saying in an interview that aired on Thursday that following the October 7 Hamas massacre, Israel’s leadership must soon receive the trust of the people via an election, but Eisenkot did not specify how soon.
Finance Minister and Religious Zionist Party chairman MK Bezalel Smotrich responded to Lapid shortly after his statement, saying that “there is a date set for an election – in two-and-a-half years.”
Three no-confidence motions last week
Last week, Yesh Atid, Labor, and the Israeli-Arab party Ra’am all put forward votes of no confidence, for the first time since the war began on October 7, a sign that the parties were becoming more active in their attempt to bring down the government.
Yesh Atid’s motion was based on what it deemed an irresponsible budget, that passed a preliminary vote in the cabinet on January 14. Ra’am’s non-confidence motion also referred to the budget, as it opposed a 15% budget cut in funding for several five-year plans intended to improve the welfare of Israeli-Arab citizens and fight violence in the Arab sector. Labor, however, focused its no confidence motion on what it argued was the government’s de facto decision to abandon the hostages in Gaza.
The debates on all three no-confidence votes were scheduled for Monday’s Knesset plenum. However, contrary to expectations, the government did not place the budget on the Knesset floor on Sunday – and following this, both Yesh Atid and Ra’am rescinded their non-confidence motions on Sunday, arguing that since the government did not lay the budget on the Knesset table, there was still a chance the budget could change. Labor, however, went through with the motion.
The coalition decided to boycott the vote on the motion, with the heads of the coalition parties saying in a joint statement on Monday that “they would not take part in a political spectacle during wartime.” Some 18 Knesset members voted in favor with no one opposing, but a no confidence vote requires a majority of 61 -
The political developments occurred during a tumultuous day in the Knesset, as relatives of Israeli hostages stormed a Knesset Finance Committee session in the morning, demanding that the lawmakers do more to try to free their loved ones.
“Just one I’d like to get back alive, one out of three!” one protester cried. Other protesters, clad in black T-shirts, held up signs reading: “You will not sit here while they die there.”
Finance Committee chairman MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) responded, “Returning hostages is one of the most important mitzvot (religious commandments) that we have, especially now. I understand your pain, I am a part of it, and we will do everything to get them back.” He then adjourned the meeting.