As the crisis in Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s coalition continued on Wednesday, the opposition advanced 13 bills in preliminary votes as the coalition once again lacked a majority. The efforts of Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid to resolve a conflict with Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz failed and Blue and White members continued to boycott coalition votes, forcing the coalition to withdraw all its legislation once again. Gantz is digging in his heels over a pension plan for IDF officers which the members of Labor and Meretz refuse to support as they believe that there are more pressing needs than increasing the pensions of already well-off IDF officers. Likud chairman Yariv Levin stated: “Two clear facts were established in the Knesset today – the opposition is the one that controls the plenum and Israel has no government. The most unsuccessful prime minister in the history of the state has failed to maintain control over his senior ministers for the third week in a row. This isn’t what leadership looks like, this is what bankruptcy looks like.” The coalition has been rocked by a series of crises in recent weeks, with the Ra’am party boycotting votes in previous weeks, the Blue and White party this week, and Strategic Planning Minister Eli Avidar resigning from the cabinet on Tuesday. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

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