Israel’s parliament to vote on anti-Netanyahu government on June 13
Jerusalem, Jun 8 (EFE).- Israeli lawmakers are due to vote on June 13 on a new government aiming to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time in over a decade, the Knesset speaker Yariv Levin said Tuesday.
If the proposed coalition government led by head of the centrist Yesh Atid party, Yair Lapid, and far-right Yamina leader, Naftali Bennett, wins the vote, it will be sworn in on the same day.
The power-sharing deal was agreed last week, envisaging a rotation of prime ministers, starting with Bennett during the first two years, and followed by Lapid, whose party is the second strongest in Israel with 17 seats in parliament.
The anti-Netanyahu eight-party coalition has a slim majority of 61 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, meaning that just one flip could jeopardize its future.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu has been for days trying to convince members of the “change bloc” to swap sides in a bid to prevent the new government from being sworn in.
“We will strongly oppose the formation of this dangerous government of fraud and surrender, and if God forbid it is established — we will bring it down very quickly,” the premier said earlier this week, according to local media.
Lapid welcomed the Knesset speaker’s announcement on Twitter, saying the new government is on its way to serve all Israeli citizens.
The Sunday Knesset session is set to see the parliament vote for a new speaker, according to Levin, who is a Likud member and one of Netanyahu’s close associates.
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