Resignation of an MP: Israel’s government loses majority

Nobody expected that: In Israel, a member of parliament from the governing Yamina party left the coalition. As a result, Prime Minister Bennett’s alliance loses the majority. The consequences are unclear.

The news comes as a surprise and could have far-reaching political consequences for Israel. MP Idit Silman of the right-wing Jamina party, which is the majority leader of the governing coalition in parliament, is stepping down and withdrawing her support for the alliance.

Dispute over dietary regulations

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s eight-party coalition now only has 60 seats and no longer has its own majority. Bennett apparently learned about this from the media. His former party colleague Silman formally justified her withdrawal with a dispute within the coalition over dietary regulations during the upcoming Jewish Passover festival.

deeper reasons?

In fact, the reasons probably lie deeper. From now on, she will fight to form a new government, Silman said. She urged other right-wing MPs within the coalition to follow her lead.

Former prime minister and current opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Silman and called her brave. It is still unclear what exact consequences the current development will have for Israel’s domestic policy.

Change of power only in the summer

After around two years of ongoing political crisis with a total of four parliamentary elections, an alliance of parties from all political camps only managed to change power last summer. Bennett became Prime Minister. This coalition now has just as little of its own majority in parliament as the opposition surrounding Netanyahu’s Likud party.