Naftali Bennett’s already fragile ruling coalition – made up of eight parliamentary lists from the right, center and left – suffered a severe blow when, Thursday, May 19, a deputy from the left-wing party Meretz Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi announced to the media that no longer intending to support the executive.
Only later – writes Aldo Baquis, for Ansamed – did he inform Bennett, who was taken completely by surprise and who then learned that he was now in the minority in parliament with just 59 out of 120 deputies.
Mistrust of the government is closer
In the opposition of the nationalist right, led by former premier Benyamin Netanyahu, the move by the parliamentarian aroused great satisfaction and reinforced the feeling that distrust of the government and the early dissolution of the legislature are now at hand. A vote to that effect could take place next week.
Meanwhile, the Meretz executives try to induce her to withdraw. On twitter, Rinawie Zoabi explained that she made the decision to leave the coalition in April, during the month of Ramadan. «I entered politics – she said – to best represent the Arab society from which I come. I was convinced that an Arab-Jewish coalition could create a real government alternative and represent a message for Arab society. But the month of Ramadan – she pointed out she – was unbearable. The images from the Esplanade of the Mosques of violent agents against a faithful audience, the funeral of the journalist Shireen Abu Akleh (attacked by the Israeli police, ed) led me to say: enough. I can’t support a coalition that mistreats Arabs in such a shameful way. “
The Meretz party is also displaced
In the Meretz party the dismay was total. Precisely to underline the importance of cooperation between the Jewish majority and the Arab minority in Israel, in his parliamentary list he had reserved two of his six seats in parliament for Arab representatives. Like Bennett, Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz was also taken completely by surprise. Zoabi refused to speak to him and to explain her gesture. For Meretz, the Bennett government represents an important and necessary dam to hinder a possible return to power of Netanyahu with his allies of the extreme right and of religious fundamentalism.