Itongadol.- PM reaching moment of truth, tells closest advisers recent coalition crisis making it impossible to govern, TV reports says
Amid growing signs of discontent in the current coalition over the controversial “Jewish state” bill, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly set to decide on whether to call for early elections by Monday.
According to a Channel 2 report, the prime minister recently told close advisers that he was “elected to run the state. And in the current situation, it is impossible to govern.”
The bill, which would enshrine Israel’s character as a Jewish state in Israel’s de facto constitution, has come under harsh criticism from Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and the leader of the Yesh Atid party, Finance Minister Yair Lapid, as well as opposition lawmakers.
Critics say the law is undemocratic to Israel’s Arab and other minority populations. A stormy cabinet meeting on the bill at the beginning of the week saw Livni accuse Netanyahu of backing the legislation in order to try and pry apart the coalition so that he can call elections.
Netanyahu has vowed to push the measure through, saying that it would guarantee equal rights for the country’s citizens and put Israel’s democratic and Jewish characters on equal footing.
The PM has presented 14 “principles” — a two-page articulation of the guiding principles for the as-yet unsubmitted government version of the nation-state bill — as a softened version to the more “right-wing” versions submitted by MKs Ze’ev Elkin, Yariv Levin, Robert Ilatov and Ayelet Shaked.
Both Livni and Lapid have hinted that they may be willing to go to early elections over the issue.
Speaking to Army Radio, Livni said that she would stand by her principles, and that “we” — meaning her party and Yesh Atid — “won’t let [the Elkin bill] pass.”
The bill is slated to be voted upon by the Knesset in a first reading on Wednesday of next week.