Knesset votes on no-confidence

Six separate motions mark the most challenges since gov't took office in April.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
knesset88 (photo credit: )
knesset88
(photo credit: )
The Knesset was debating and voting on six no-confidence motions Monday, the highest number that the government has faced since it took office in April. Likud, Meretz, NU-NRP, Israel Beiteinu, Balad and Hadash have all filed no-confidence motions over various grievances with the government. None of those motions are expected to pass.
JPOST.COM HIT LIST
JPost.com's most popular articles this past week
The NU-NRP motion was filed against the World Gay Pride event scheduled to take place in Jerusalem, the Likud filed over the recent Kassam attacks on Ashkelon, Hadash filed over poverty in Arab neighborhoods, Balad filed over the declining social and economic conditions in the Arab sector, and Israel Beiteinu and Meretz filed separate motions over general government mismanagement. With two weeks left until the Knesset goes on recess, several MKs said that the constant stream of no confidence motions reflected the unstable nature of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's coalition. "While we, in the government, have not voted for the motions, there has been a growing sympathy for them," said one Labor MK. "The government has not begun implementing its plans… such as convergence, and already there are constant no confidence motions." Another MK from the Gil Pensioners Party added that the motions reflected the "general unhappiness over the way the government was being managed."