The coalition’s decision on Tuesday to shelve a bill regarding the appointment of municipal rabbis appears ho-hum at first glance.
But it’s not. Instead, it gives a peek into significant political dynamics at a time when the motto, “This is not the time for politics, this is the time to fight Hamas,” seems to be overtaken by a return to politics as usual.
The contentious bill submitted by Shas MK Erez Malul and Religious Zionist Party MK Simcha Rothman would give the Shas-controlled Religious Services Ministry a majority on nominating committees for publicly funded local rabbis around the country.
The law would also give the Religious Services Ministry authority to appoint a rabbi to be paid by the ministry in any neighborhood or local authority with more than 50,000 residents and to compel cities without chief rabbis, such as Tel Aviv and Haifa, to hire one and possibly two. This could add another 600 local rabbis to the state’s payroll.
The Jewish religious services bill was first submitted in June as the judicial reform controversy was at its peak, and it would cancel reforms put into place by Matan Kahana when he was religious services minister in the last government, giving more power to the haredi-dominated Chief Rabbinate.
That the bill, which was put on hold after October 7, was scheduled to be brought to the Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee headed by Rothman on Tuesday, before being shelved at the last minute, underscores three political developments to keep an eye on.
First, that the bill was initially to be brought to the Knesset committee for a potential preliminary vote, despite widespread recognition that it would incite anger within the coalition and violate the agreement with Benny Gantz’s National Unity Party, shows that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is dead set on keeping the 64-member coalition that he had previous to October 7 intact.
Bill pulled to prevent discord
The stability of the existing emergency government is looking increasingly wobbly, following the breakup of the National Unity Party and New Hope leader Gideon Sa’ar’s threat to leave the coalition if he is not given a seat in the war cabinet. As a result, Netanyahu did not want to infuriate any of the parties that made up the 64-member coalition he had before October 7, explaining why the bill was moving forward despite Gantz’s opposition. Netanyahu wants to ensure that the original members of his coalition are satisfied and not given any reason to threaten to bring down the government.
The second development to take note of is that the bill was shelved Tuesday morning after a Likud minister and two MKs wrote a sharply worded letter to Netanyahu opposing it, and two other Likud MKs took to social media to express their opposition. One widely read Hebrew website termed this a “revolt in the Likud.”
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli and MKs Moshe Saada and Dan Illouz wrote to Netanyahu. MKs Eli Dalal and Tally Gotliv let their feelings be known on X.
Internal dissent of that sort inside the Likud is something both rare and worth watching. That these five were able to thwart the passage of this bill at this time shows the power a group of Likud MKs and ministers – if they band together – could have on other issues as well. If Netanyahu loses five Likud votes, he could conceivably lose the coalition.
What this shows is that there are policies that will face resistance inside the Likud faction. This is a potent message at this time, especially as the decision regarding haredi conscription will soon be coming to the Knesset.
Though Netanyahu will likely not do anything to infuriate the haredi parties and rock the coalition boat, this development shows that the faction will not be a rubber stamp for any policies that he may want to move forward, and that a rebellion in the party over certain issues is possible.
The final interesting dynamic is the official reason given for not promoting the legislation now, as well as the reason the Likud MKs gave for opposing it: not wanting to raise issues at this time that would split the country.
In announcing the withdrawal of the bill now, Coalition Whip Ofir Katz said: “After I spoke with the heads of the coalition factions, as well as after I spoke with Shas chairman Rabbi Arye Deri, it was decided that this is not the right time to advance controversial legislation.”
These days, he added, “we must strive for unity in the nation as much as possible.”
This was the same message Chikli, Saada, and Illouz conveyed in their letter to Netanyahu.
“Together we will win – this combination of words is not intended just to decorate stickers and billboards, but as a compass for making decisions,” they wrote. “The State of Israel is still in the midst of a fateful war that is far from over. That is the most important thing, and we must not give excuses at this time to those among us who are interested in division and strife.”
“In times of war, it is appropriate to give up controversial bills,” they added. “This is not the time to promote controversial legislation, but a time to unite ranks and focus the nation’s forces in this war.”
Dalal, in his post on X, had a similar message: “We do not need to deal with what could create division and discord. No law is worth that at this time.”
Since October 7, there has been abundant talk of the need for unity while soldiers are fighting and dying in war. The removal of this legislation now, precisely because of the fear that it will foster discord and disunity, is a positive sign that – to some degree – this sentiment is being internalized and translated into action.