The controversial family reunification bill that is set to come to a vote on Monday is not the first test of the coalition but of the opposition led by Likud, Coalition Chairwoman Idit Silman told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday night.
The bill would extend a current ordinance preventing Palestinians from obtaining Israeli citizenship by marrying Israelis. The Likud extended the bill annually but now opposes it, in order to encourage rifts between coalition MKs on the Left and Right.
“I advise the Likud to be the opposition to the coalition, not the opposition to the State of Israel,” Silman (Yamina) said. “I’ll be shocked if they don’t vote in favor of extending the ordinance. It will be sad if they decide to harm Israel for political reasons. They will have to explain that to their voters. This is a test for the opposition before the people of Israel.”
The coalition chairwoman praised Likud MK Avi Dichter for what she said was his courage in trying to persuade Likud MKs to back the bill.
Silman was on the phone in the plenum on Thursday, when Yamina MK Abir Kara mistakenly voted for her and himself on a bill aiding workers who were unemployed due to the coronavirus. Kara said he mistakenly voted using the computer of Silman, who sits next to him in the plenum. He said he then voted using his own computer and immediately told Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy of his mistake.
Kara said he voted from the wrong computer “out of instinct and by mistake.” The important thing, he added, “is that I clarified the mistake right away.”
“The coalition had a majority of the votes anyway,” he said. “The members of the opposition who never took responsibility for the decisions they made that cost people their lives – Mount Meron and Lod – will not teach me how to correct a mistake. I will continue to serve the public with love and dedication.”
But opposition MKs pointed out that voting twice is a crime. MK Amir Ohana (Likud) asked that all of Kara’s votes over the past two weeks be checked, in the presence of a representative of the opposition, and Levy accepted the request. Likud MK Shlomo Karhi filed an urgent complaint to the attorney-general requesting that an investigation be opened into the double voting.
“Those who stole votes from the Right and gave Israel a left-wing government that is supported by anti-Zionists are now stealing votes in the [Knesset] plenum as well,” the Likud added.
The Movement for Quality Government said the double voting needs to be investigated.
Kara, who is a deputy minister, is under pressure from his faction to quit the Knesset via the Norwegian Law, which allows ministers and deputy ministers to quit in favor of the next candidate on their party’s list. If Kara would resign, he would be replaced in the Knesset by Yamina Director-General Stella Weinstein.
Sarah Ben-Nun contributed to this report.