Bennett and Lapid already thought they were on the wave.

Retiring from Meretz ruined their euphoria

MK Rinawi Zoabi's announcement caught the Prime Minister and his replacement partner in complete surprise.

Even if they manage to reach understandings and survive from week to week, the disintegration of the coalition has officially become a trend, and the smell of elections in the air will sharpen positions and make it difficult for cooperation: between parties and at the top, between two prime ministers

His dew

20/05/2022

Friday, 20 May 2022, 06:06 Updated: 07:35

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In the video: MK Jida Rinawi Zoabi on the essays in the Knesset of Israel (Knesset Channel)

One of the familiar old-fashioned children's songs, told back to apples falling from a tree or bottles of beer from the wall, has been playing in recent weeks as a coalition soundtrack.

In the local version of the Bennett-Lapid government, the count begins with 62 bottles / apples, as the number of seats all coalition party members received in the election, but very quickly moves to 61, minus Amichai Shikli who fell even before the inauguration.

It lasted about ten months until the retirement of Idit Silman last month, after which 60 apples remained on the tree, and yesterday Jida Rinawi Zoabi of Meretz fell, leaving the government with only 59 fingers and officially making it a minority government.

As in a rerun of the drama of Silman's retirement, Rinawi Zoabi's announcement caught Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his replacement partner Yair Lapid in complete surprise.

Meretz chairman Nitzan Horowitz learned about the decision and the letter of resignation from Push in the media, and tried for hours to talk or meet with her and was left

unanswered.

Yesterday at Walla !, Rinawi Zoabi consulted with MK Yinon Azulai of Shas about Latvia, and he encouraged her to retire while updating Aryeh Deri and from there to Netanyahu behind the scenes.

Last night, in a conversation with the leaders of the opposition parties, Netanyahu promised that there would be "serious" talks with other defectors.

The Likud is sure that it is only a matter of time before the number of Knesset members who support the government in the Knesset drops to 58, and from there the rate of dropouts will only increase.

More on Walla!

If this is the end of the coalition: Rinawi Zoabi has signed an assassination attempt for coexistence

To the full article

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Surprised by the Rinawi-Zoabi message.

Bennett (Photo: Reuven Castro)

The coalition, on the other hand, hopes to further save the situation and persuade Rinawi Zoabi, at the very least, not to cooperate with Netanyahu and Ben Gvir and not to support the opposition's proposals to dissolve the Knesset.

In March, they were alarmed yesterday at the thought that the dissolution of the government would be registered in their name, and put heavy pressure on the rebellious MK to resign or resign from the Knesset, and Lapid scheduled a meeting on Sunday to discuss the appointment to the consulate in Shanghai.

Its retirement has given rise to momentum of success since the Knesset returned from a hiatus - the coalition overcame the Temple Mount crisis with the RAAM, won a majority of votes, and even managed to sow strife and debate on opposition benches and damage image to the Likud around Defense Minister Bnei Gantz's Dimensions.

Lapid and Bennett were on the wave, in the midst of a public-political campaign on Netanyahu and the Likudniks' head that prevents benefits for IDF fighters. On trend: The coalition is crumbling at both ends, right and now also on the left, by individual MKs jumping off the ship.It becomes an almost impossible task: even if they manage to reach an understanding with Rinawi Zoabi and deter Silman with the threats of the affair, the strong smell of elections in the air changes the dynamics Sharpens positions, creates suspicion and makes it difficult for cooperation between the parties, and also at the top.

On the one hand, Bennett and Lapid work together to stabilize the government and piously coordinate every step of the way.

Bennett obeyed Lapid's advice to keep political adviser Shimrit Meir away, who quarreled with him and all the members of the aquarium, and also to recommend that Knesset member Yom Tov be ousted from Norway, and that Matan Kahana be returned to the Knesset.

The division of labor between them in the coalition rescue efforts is clear - Bennett is trying to stop the bleeding in the "right", and Lapid is stabilizing all the parties in the opposing bloc.

But it also puts them in a kind of conflict of interest with each other.

Hopefully the next apple to fall will not be from his tree.

Lapid (Photo: Reuven Castro)

According to the coalition agreement, if two Knesset members from right-wing parties vote in favor of dissolving the Knesset, Lapid will receive the prime minister for the election period until another government is formed.

If not - and the defector who joins Silman will be from the opposite bloc - Bennett will keep the chair, a sought-after and rare campaign commodity.

Since Silman's retirement, this tension has been revealed twice: last week, while Lapid was trying to resolve the crisis with RAAM and reassure the Shura Council, the Prime Minister's Office did not really go out of its way to help, releasing a streak of statements and statements on the Temple Mount at the most sensitive timing. Yesterday, while Rinawi Zoabi starred in the 15 minutes of glory that every retiree receives in the main edition of News 12, "senior officials" on the right were quick to brief that none of her demands would be accepted.

Despite the prime minister's public statements and motivational shots that "keep climbing and do not give up", the working assumption in his environment is that the government will survive for a maximum of a few more weeks.

And if the government is already doomed to fall, Bennett wants the next apples to fall from Lapid's tree.

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• Naftali Bennett

• Yair Lapid

• Jida Rinawi Zoabi