Justice Minister Yariv Levin has had enough, apparently, and, according to a Reshet Bet Radio Friday morning report, is planning to present the opposition parties with an ultimatum: either they live up to their promise in the negotiations at the president’s residence and support two minor judicial reforms in exchange for keeping the makeup of the committee to appoint judges as it has been, or he, Levin, would push through the entire reform with the coalition’s 64-vote majority.
There are several cracks in this threat, unfortunately, the most glaring of which: the coalition may no longer have 64 member MKs who support the judicial reform. The fact is, the opposition defeated the coalition decisively on Thursday, as several rogue coalition MKs, using the cover of the anonymous vote, helped elect a member of Yesh Atid, MK Karine Elharrar, to represent the opposition on the committee.
At this point, even if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to pass Levin’s judicial reform – and he doesn’t, for a variety of reasons – there are enough disgruntled Likud MKs who are on the record saying they won’t support it.
Levin reportedly told friends in the Knesset: “The opposition is not giving us anything. Why do we have to come to them? They are demonstrating in front of us, beating us, spitting on us. We have reached a point where they feel they are doing us a favor by electing Karine Elharrar because otherwise they will set the country on fire. Why are we Afraid of them? Who are they, anyway? Why do we need to give them a representative on the committee?”
And then there’s the case of Likud MK Tali Gottlieb who on Thursday went to war against Netanyahu, the coalition whip, and the age-old tradition of coalition discipline and refused to remove her name from the coalition’s list of candidates to serve on the committee.
There were rumors of a shouting match between Gottlieb and Netanyahu, where the PM supposedly told her he had never before seen a first-term MK behaving with such insolence. He was wrong, of course, only a few years ago, Likud MK Moshe Feiglin lost all his privileges in the 19th Knesset (2013-15), including his post as deputy speaker, after defying the party line in a single vote.
Coalition Chairman Ofir Katz on Thursday night announced a series of sanctions against MK Gottlieb for “a serious and unprecedented violation of coalition and factional discipline.” Gottlieb will no longer serve as a member of various Knesset committees, will not be able to introduce bills, and will not be able to speak on behalf of the Likud faction in the Knesset plenum. All this until further notice.
Gottlieb, like Gottlieb, doubled down, tweeting: “Ofir Katz, No. 32 on the Likud list. A loyal soldier, he decided to tell the media and not me that sanctions would be imposed on me, including my removal from the Knesset committees. Good for you Ofir. I have already inquired with the legal counsel that mine was not a violation of coalition discipline. You acted in a violent and vindictive manner. My friends, Likud loyalists, please remind him that you see everything.”
Three hours later, she tripled down, threatening to petition the High Court of Justice. “It is my duty and my right to do parliamentary work in the Knesset. The public pays me for exactly that. Shutting my mouth with draconian and uncontrolled sanctions is immoral and illegal. After investigating the unreasonableness and illegality of the decision in my case, I intend to submit a notice to the Knesset legal counsel before turning to the High Court. The Knesset is not the wild west.”
If I were the opposition, I would order all my MKs to just shut up, lean back, and let the coalition self-destruct.
