In a surprising move, a prominent member of Israel Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s Yamina party announced her resignation from his coalition government on Wednesday. Thereby, leaving him without a parliamentary majority.
Bennett’s coalition includes parties ranging from the Jewish right to Israeli doves to an Arab Muslim party. It now has 60 seats, the same as the opposition, thanks to Idit Silman’s announcement.
“I tried the path of unity. I worked a lot for this coalition,” Silman, a religious conservative who served as coalition chairperson, said in a statement.
“Sadly, I cannot take part in harming the Jewish identity of Israel,” she added.
Silman slammed Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz on Monday. He ordered hospitals to allow leavened bread goods into their facilities for the upcoming Passover holiday; despite a recent supreme court ruling overturning years of restriction.
Unleavened bread is forbidden in public during Passover, according to Jewish tradition.
“I am ending my membership of the coalition and will try to continue to talk my friends into returning home and forming a right-wing government,” Silman said.
“I know I’m not the only one who feels this way.”
Following the announcement, the same right-wing politicians greeted Silman with cheers. They had been relentless in their attacks on her. Bennett broke his election promises and joined his ruling coalition with her last year.
Beginning of the end of the left-wing
In a videotape, opposition leader and Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu stated, “Idit, you’re proof that what guides you is the concern for the Jewish identity of Israel, the concern for the land of Israel, and I welcome you back home to the national camp,”
“I call on whoever was elected with the votes of the national camp to join Idit and come back home, you’ll be received with all due honor and open arms,” said the right-wing former prime minister.
Netanyahu would need the support of at least 61 lawmakers to build his own government without new elections. He presently lacks them.
Bennett’s former colleague, Bezalel Smotrich, of the Religious Zionism party, praised her for the “courage to make the difficult move”. But he warned the current coalition would not survive the change.
On Twitter, he also remarked, “This is the beginning of the end of the left-wing, non-Zionist government of Bennett and the Islamist Movement.”
Israel’s Bennett, whose Yamina party now has only 5 of the 120 seats in parliament, did not respond immediately.
