Israeli PM Bennett loses majority after ruling coalition whip quits over religious ground
Jerusalem, Apr 7: Israel's fragile government on Wednesday was reduced to a minority in the 120-member House with the ruling coalition's whip quitting on religious grounds, raising the possibility of elections in the Jewish nation in less than a year after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett took charge.
Idit Silman of Prime Minister Bennett's Yamina party quit the government, surviving on a razor thin margin, over the question of Jewish values related to a dispute about Passover matzo rules.
"I can no longer serve in a coalition that is adversarial towards the values we all hold dear," Silman said in a letter to the prime minister, urging him also to join forces with the right wing.
The coalition now holds just 60 seats in the 120 member Knesset (Israeli parliament).
Bennett's shaky government remains in power following the defection but will face severe challenges legislating on key issues.
Silman opposed allowing people to bring leavened bread and other foodstuffs into public hospitals -- products prohibited according to religious tradition during the Passover holiday -- leading to a public spat with Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz who had decided to allow entry of such products into hospitals during the Passover, a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.
For some devout Jews, the mere presence of such foods in the hospital is not kosher, but the country's Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that hospitals could not bar people from doing so.
The coalition, seen by many as an assembly of strange bedfellows from eight political parties of all ideological hues, ranging from Islamists to hard-line nationalists and dovish liberals, was glued together in its opposition to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it wanted to oust from power.
Some members of Bennett's party have been uncomfortable with Yamina's union with Islamist and liberal parties since the government's formation in June last year which has kept his confidantes on their toes permanently.
One of the seven elected members of the party broke ranks at the inception and has maintained his opposition to the coalition.
Bennett rushed to summon Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, his longtime political partner, and others to ensure they too did not leave his coalition and join hands with the Opposition.
The Knesset is on a break and it remains unclear if the Opposition will now have enough support to hold a no-confidence vote and send Israelis to the spectacle of fifth elections in just over three years' time.
Local media reports talked of Silman striking a deal with Netanyahu over a secure spot in the Likud party list if fresh elections were called, and even the health ministry if the former premier was to form a new government.
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Misuse of power, money to control election mechanism seen during Maharashtra polls: Sharad Pawar
Pune (PTI): NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday claimed the misuse of power and money to control the entire election mechanism, which was never before seen in any state assembly or national polls, was witnessed in Maharashtra.
Pawar made the statement when he visited senior activist Dr Baba Adhav, who is protesting against the alleged "misuse of EVMs" in the recent state polls in Maharashtra.
Adhav, who is in his 90s, began his three-day protest at Phule Wada, the residence of social reformer Jyotiba Phule, in the city on Thursday.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies, the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), have been alleging manipulation of EVMs in the recently held Maharashtra Assembly elections, which saw a landslide victory by the Mahayuti.
The Mahayuti, comprising the Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP, won 230 out of 288 assembly seats in the November 20 polls, while the MVA managed just 46 seats.Talking to reporters, Pawar said elections were conducted recently in the country, and there is a restlessness among the people about these.
Baba Adhav's agitation represents this restlessness, he said.
He said, "There is a murmur among the people that the recent polls in Maharashtra saw 'misuse of power' and 'floods of money', which was never seen in the past. Such things are heard of in local-level polls, but taking over the entire election mechanism with the help of money and misuse of power was not seen before. However, we witnessed it in Maharashtra, and people are restless now."
He added that people were recalling late socialist ideologue Jaiprakash Narayan and felt somebody should take a step forward.
"I heard Baba Adhav has taken a lead into this issue and is agitating at Phule Wada. His protest gives hope to the people, but it is not enough. A mass revolt is necessary, as the danger of the parliamentary democracy getting destroyed looms," Pawar said.
The former Union minister said those who have reins of the country in their hands are least bothered about this.
"Despite widespread discussion over it (alleged misuse of EVMs) in the country, whenever the opposition tries to raise the issue in the Parliament, they are not allowed to speak. Opposition leaders have been seeking an opportunity to speak on these issues for six days, but their demands have not been accepted even once. It shows they want to attack parliamentary democracy," he claimed.
He said Dr Adhav's protest is a fine example of someone revolting against the issue and expressed confidence that his protest will create a ripple effect.
