A no-confidence motion submitted by the Hadash-Ta’al faction was rejected on Monday, June 16, in the Knesset plenum. The motion claiming that “the government is leading a policy of eternal war and annexation of territories without a political horizon” and was defeated by Zionist opposition heavyweights Yesh Atid, National Unity, and Yisrael Beiteinu parties who voted alongside Prime Minister Netanyahu’s coalition, citing the “intensifying war with Iran” as the reason for their support to the far-right government.
Rescue teams inspect the damage to a building struck by an Iranian ballistic missile in Petah Tikva, Israel, on June 16, 2025. Four people were killed in the strike, and dozens were injured (Photo: Gili Yaari / Flash90)
MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash) presented the motion: “We demand what should be self-evident. Life, justice, freedom and security. We demand a different future. For all of us. There is one way to ensure this, and that is to stand courageously against the warmongers.” According to Odeh. “Not only has this criminal government failed, but the opposition is also being dragged along with-it time and time again, in quiet and shameful surrender.”
“They said that now is wartime,” said Odeh. “So, when exactly will it be the time for peace? After the destruction of another city, another village, another neighborhood, another building, another house, another life? I’m calling on the opposition: Why did you withdraw the no-confidence motions? Why do you keep cooperating with Netanyahu’s government?” exclaimed the Hadash lawmaker.
MK Ofir Katz (Likud) replied and say: “This isn’t freedom of speech, these are enemies of the State of Israel. The person who presented the motion would like Iran to have a nuclear weapon. Whatever is bad for the State of Israel—he is in favor. Because it weakens the State of Israel. He didn’t say a word about Iran. These people are always on the side of the State of Israel’s enemies. This time, together with the Zionist opposition, we will vote down this motion of the State of Israel’s enemies.”
After the motion is voted down, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party, declared following the meeting, “In such fateful moments, we all stand together.”
On Monday, Yisrael Beytenu party chief Avigdor Liberman says during a visit to Rehovot, where Iranian missiles caused damage to the campus of the Weizmann Institute of Science, “Israel must strike all Iranian power plants, every oil well, gas field, fuel storage facility, and seaports and airports.” Also on Monday, Defense Minister Israel Katz threatens that Tehran’s residents will suffer in retaliation for Iranian missile strikes that have caused widespread damage to Israeli residential areas, killing at least 24 people and wounding hundreds more since the Israeli attack on Friday. “The residents of Tehran will pay the price, and soon,” he vows, in what appears to be a threat to target Iranian civilians in kind.
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=32752
