The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Israel: Government of Naftali Bennett only with Knesset minority

2022-05-19T15:28:15.908Z


Israeli Prime Minister Bennett is now only at the head of a minority government: one member of parliament left the coalition in protest at police violence at the funeral of an Al Jazeera reporter.


Enlarge image

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett

Photo:

Abir Sultan / AP

Majorities in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, were already tight - now they have shifted to the disadvantage of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's government.

Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi of the left-wing Merez party has left his coalition.

As a result, Bennett's alliance lost a decisive vote and only 59 of the 120 seats in the Knesset.

Zoabi justified her resignation with the police violence at the funeral of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in Jerusalem last week.

"I cannot continue to support the existence of a coalition that is harassing my community in this disgraceful way," the MP said.

She belongs to Israel's Arab minority.

However, Zoabi's resignation does not necessarily mean the end of Bennett's coalition, which consists of a broad alliance of parties.

61 votes are required to pass a motion to dissolve parliament and call new elections.

It is uncertain that these will come together: several members of the opposition, now including Zoabi, are fierce opponents of the current opposition leader and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The former prime minister wants to overthrow the Bennett government in order to regain power himself.

as /AFP

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-05-19

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.