VOTE A 'SMALL STEP' EN ROUTE TO A 'UNITY GOVERNMENT'
In blow to Netanyahu, Ra’am gives Lapid’s bloc control of key Knesset panel
In last-minute ploy, Arab MKs reject PM’s proposal for Arrangements Committee; Ra’am leader Abbas says move due to incitement from Netanyahu’s far-right allies
By TAL SCHNEIDER
19 April 2021, 10:14 pm 2
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Screen capture from video of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset, April 19, 2021. (Kan)
Screen capture from video of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset, April 19, 2021. (Kan)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s suffered a stinging defeat in the Knesset on Monday with potentially far-reaching implications when his Likud party’s proposal for the makeup of a key parliamentary committee was rejected in favor of that of the opposition.
The vote on the Arrangements Committee took a dramatic turn when lawmakers from Ra’am, an Islamist Arab party, burst into the plenum at the last moment to vote against the Likud proposal and give their backing to an alternative plan pushed by the bloc led by MK Yair Lapid, who heads the Yesh Atid party.