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Senior appointments and fear of High Court intervention: what lies behind the budget crisis

Netanyahu and Gantz's emergency government faltered from the very first moment, and in less than two weeks the Knesset could dissolve on its own. Both sides are fortifying their positions, and two bills will go up for approval today in an attempt to resolve the budget crisis - which hides further explosive debates. How did we get here and what's the next step?

• Benjamin Netanyahu
• Bnei Gantz
• The Likud
• Blue and white
• Yair Lapid
• Deer Hauser

His dew

Less than two weeks, or rather - 12 days, are left until the formidable deadline that hovers in the air ahead of the fourth election. Every few hours a new initiative emerges, a solution outline, or a compromise proposal, which are supposed to rescue the coalition from the crisis. So far no progress has been made in the Likud and Blue and White debate over the state budget, and both sides are still entrenched in their positions: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly says that budget until the end of 2021 is "irresponsible", while replacement Prime Minister Bnei Gantz declares the exact opposite. An annual will only add uncertainty to the economy.

The budget, as is well known, is just the excuse: the ping-pong between Netanyahu and Gantz mainly officially announces the launch of the usual accusatory game of accusations, which is usually a preliminary stage before the dissolution of the government and the dissolution of the Knesset. It also reflects the acute crisis of trust between the parties, which is currently far from resolved. Walla! NEWS Makes order in chaos.

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A brief history of the budget, or: How did we get here?

Netanyahu and Gantz's emergency / corona government faltered from the very first moment. The Likud and Blue and White have entered into a regular routine of confrontations on every issue - from annexation, through the rule of law to the corona closures. The budget crisis also erupted in less than a month after the formation of the government; The coalition agreement explicitly stipulated that the government would pass a biennial budget for 2021-2020 within three months. Shortly after the government was sworn in, Netanyahu regretted it and began to play another tune - a demand to split the budget in two.

Netanyahu's arguments are seemingly economic, but what is behind the sharp turn is a political consideration: if the Knesset approves one budget by the end of 2021, as agreed in the coalition agreement, he will have no way to dissolve it without having to implement the November 2021 rotation agreement and hand over the baton to Gantz. Only if the government falls in the vote on the budget - it will be able to continue to hold the reins even during the election campaign.

This is exactly the reason why blue and white are insisting on it: Gantz's approval of Netanyahu's demand for an annual budget means that there will be another vote, in a few months, on the next budget; There he would be able to dismantle the government and evade the realization of the rotation, and prevent Magnz from reaching the prime minister's chair. Ganz's demand for a long-term budget by the end of next year also has weighty economic reasons, and it is backed by almost all senior economists in the economy, who believe the deep economic crisis necessitates long-term planning and stability.

It's just that it doesn't really have an effect: for almost two months now, this dispute has remained unresolved. If the government does not approve a budget by midnight on August 24, the Knesset will simply disperse by itself.

And also: the rotation, senior appointments and government regulations

On the fringes of the budget debate, there are additional unclosed edges between the Likud and blue and white. Thus, for example, the weekly cabinet meeting was canceled due to a dispute over the rules of government work. The bylaws should also include a compensation mechanism for the inequality between the two sides of the government and the fact that the Likud-Haredi bloc has a higher number of ministers than the blue-and-white bloc, but no agreement has yet been reached on what exactly the mechanism will be.

In addition, the Likud and Blue and White were supposed to formulate within an hundred days an agreed mechanism for senior appointments such as the police commissioner, the state attorney and the attorney general. The Likud demands that the entire appointment process be private, meaning that both blocs be involved in appointing committees and naming candidates. , In blue and white, refuse to give the Likud a foothold in the internal proceedings in the Ministry of Justice, and especially in appointments that may be particularly crucial for Netanyahu and his trial, which will open early next year.

Another unresolved issue, a remnant of the days of coalition negotiations, is Netanyahu's fear that the High Court will disqualify his term as deputy prime minister with the transfer of the rotation. The current agreement also includes a similar clause, but is limited to six months only, and the High Court's first hearing on the issue is scheduled for October only.

In recent days, Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi have been holding talks and talks with Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin, Finance Minister Israel Katz and MLAG and Water Minister Zeev Elkin, in an attempt to reach agreements. In the end, from the budget to the rotation, all the disputes between the Likud and Blue and White are intertwined and the solution depends mainly on the ability of the two leaders to build a minimum degree of trust and their desire to continue working together.

Between the two bills, the eyes are shifting to the Knesset

Two bills will go up today (Wednesday) for approval in a preliminary reading: one by the Derech Eretz faction, which postpones the deadline for approving the budget by a hundred days, and the other by Yesh Atid, which stipulates that a criminal defendant will not be able to form a government. MK Zvi Hauser's (Derech Eretz) law was born to give breathing space to the faltering coalition, or at least a few more months of air; Chairman Yash Lapid's law was born to challenge it, and especially to embarrass its blue and white members.

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To the full article

The Likud initially refused to support the law of Hauser and Yoaz Handel, and the ultra-Orthodox factions were not enthusiastic either. On the face of it, this is a purely technical law, which only postpones the August 25 deadline, which in any case has no chance of being met. But it has a fundamental significance regarding the core of the agreement - the transfer of the rotation stick: Netanyahu's agreement to postpone the vote on the budget to November will leave only two months to 2020, and will empty the requirement for one year and split the vote in two. Then, he will have no point of departure from the agreement before November 2021, the date of the exchange between the prime ministers. Therefore, he agreed to support the proposal only in a preliminary and first reading, and refuses to commit to the end without having agreements on the budget and other vegetables.

Netanyahu's main goal in agreeing to advance the Hauser law was to roll the ball in a blue and white direction, and be portrayed as willing to make compromises to prevent elections, and they tried to roll the ball back. On Monday Gantz announced that he demands to advance the law to the end within 24 hours, a serious fee that will prove he is really trying to prevent elections. A day passed, Netanyahu ignored the ultimatum, and nothing happened.

Another goal of his move was achieved - thwarting Blue and White's support for Lapid's law. Once upon a time, this was also their law, and some of the signatories to it sit within a government today. Some also thought that in light of the conduct of Netanyahu and the Likud, which is leading to elections anyway, the threat should also be realized and supported. In the end, the party decided to be absent from the plenum at the time of the vote. True, they will provide ammunition for the campaigns of Lapid and his comrades for an escape from securing the violated election, but at least they will not be accused of burning the club and dismantling the government.

The Likud, by the way, demands even more than that, and wants them to vote against. One way or another, Hauser and Handel's law alone will not save the government, and Lapid's law will not overthrow it, but they will intensify the drama, which will only intensify - until the last minute.