The right-wing rally planned for Wednesday evening has taken on additional urgency following Coalition Chairwoman and Yamina MK Idit Silman's decision to resign from the coalition. What seemed like a distant dream, with a government united and pushing to continue together, began to unravel earlier than expected as the coalition lost its majority in the Knesset. Unless an alternative is found before the Knesset convenes following its recess, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will need to go. A coalition without a Knesset majority and without a safety net in the opposition cannot function.
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This is likely what Bennett and Foreign Minister and Prime Minister-designate Yair Lapid will do in the few remaining weeks that they have left. It will be a losing battle. If this had happened a few months ago, they would have easily found a few lawmakers from the Joint Arab List to help them out. They've already shown themselves to have no inhibitions when it comes to maintaining their seats of power.
In the meantime, even Joint Arab List MK Ahmed Tibi has changed his tone. At the vote to establish the government, he went missing from the Knesset plenum to ensure it had secured a majority and only then returned to vote against its establishment. In recent weeks, however, he has joined by his fellow party member Ayman Odeh and their friends in voting against the government with the stated intention of achieving its dissolution. The more Ra'am planted itself in the coalition, the more the Joint Arab List intensified its attacks from the opposition.
Yamina party leaders Bennett and Ayelet Shaked did not believe Silman would be the cause of their troubles. Even after she clarified that from her standpoint, Nitzan Horowitz could not be a minister in a Jewish state, both Bennett and Shaked were dismissive and reasoned this was merely an attempt to attract media attention.
Bennett even managed to find the time to relate to her remarks with condescending contempt when, on a visit with the Israel Defense Forces' Judea and Samaria Division, he told reporters the issuing of ultimatums and threats was unacceptable. Obviously, neither he nor Lapid recognized the very real coming threat as neither of them tried to put out the fire, call Horowitz to order, or any other actions that could have helped them avoid their Silman troubles.
The more the coalition tries to replace Silman so that it can survive until August, the more the Likud and the opposition will act to prevent it. Only time will tell which side comes out on top in the end.
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