The coalition is forcing the Knesset to vote on three controversial bills as a “package deal” within three days in the coming week. The bills are the governance law, which would raise the Knesset threshold from two seats to four, the law to draft Haredim, and the Basic Law: “Referendum”, requiring approval in a national vote for any withdrawal from a territory under occupation.  The coalition imposed the deadline on the parliamentary debate to curtail the opposition’s ability to raise objections to the legislation.

MK Dov Khenin during a demonstration in occupied Sheikh Jarrah quarter in East Jerusalem (Photo: Al Ittihad)

The opposition factions, outraged at the intention to rush three bills through the Knesset, held a news conference and said they were considering boycotting the votes. Opposition leader Isaac Herzog told the ministers, “You’re crossing a red line, [this is] one of the gravest moves Israeli politics has ever known.” Herzog vowed to conduct a relentless campaign against the coalition next week.  The coalition has decided to vote for the bills as a “package deal,” with the intention of forcing the coalition partners to pass the contested bills.  Raising the electoral threshold might push Hadash and Arab parties — Ra’am-Ta’al and Balad — out of the Knesset.  MK Dov Khenin (Hadash) blasted the deadline imposed on the Knesset debate. “This is a most dangerous precedent which means that even changes in the system of government can be made while ignoring the Knesset code,” he said.