Israel’s coalition crumbles as MK walks out over chametz row
Yamina MK Idit Silman said she was resigning because it was time for a ‘national, Jewish and Zionist government’
Michael Daventry is Jewish News’s foreign and broadcast editor
Israel’s governing coalition lost its tiny majority in the Knesset on Wednesday when a conservative MK resigned following secret talks with opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
Backbencer Idit Silman, who was a member of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s right-wing Yamina party, said she was stepping down because she believed it was time to form a “national, Jewish and Zionist government”.
She added that other members of the coalition were unwilling to compromise, an apparent reference to a row involving food in Israeli hospitals during the Passover.
Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, a member of the left-wing Meretz party, recently lifted a ban on leavened food, known as chametz, that is banned during the festival.
It followed a High Court ruling that hospitals did not have the authority to ban visitors from bringing in chametz foods.
Silman was among those criticising Horowitz’s move.
Her defection means the left-right coalition now holds 60 seats in the Knesset, precisely half the total, preventing it from approving a budget or passing laws without the opposition’s support.
Israeli media reported she agreed to join Netanyahu after he promised she would be a candidate for his Likud party at the next election and would take the post of health minister if he forms a government.
The opposition leader called on other MKs to follow Silman.
“You will be received with all due respect and with open arms,” he said, according to Haaretz.
He added that Silman had been guided by “a concern for the Jewish identity of the State of Israel and the Land of Israel”.
Tuesday’s defection does not immediately topple Israel’s governing coalition because the opposition includes a group of Arab MKs who are not likely to vote with Netanyahu’s bloc.
But it does make an early election more likely as 61 votes are needed to dissolve the Knesset.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
