It has been nearly a month since former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman resigned and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been in charge of the defense portfolio. But Netanyahu can remain acting defense minister for no longer than 90 days from the date of Lieberman's resignation, until Feb. 14, 2019, unless the Knesset votes to extend his mandate.
If the government cannot secure the votes necessary to extend Netanyahu's term as temporary head of the Defense Ministry, a new acting defense minister cannot be appointed. Instead, the director general of the Defense Ministry will take over the role. But if that scenario were to play out, it could present a problem because the IDF chief of staff answers to the defense minister. If no one is appointed to that position, no minister will oversee the chief of staff.
One senior minister said, "I believe that the prime minister will ask the Knesset to extend his term as acting defense minister. At the same time, he will appoint another minister to the position of the foreign minister [a portfolio Netanyahu has retained since the 2015 Knesset election]. Then a few ministers will be battling for the portfolio that minister vacates."
The minister called the haredi conscription bill the toughest challenge facing the current coalition.
"If we manage to secure a majority to pass the law, the government can hold on until the November 2019 election," he said.
The minister added that if the current version of the haredi draft bill – authored by the Defense Ministry – were altered, it would have little chance of being approved by the Supreme Court. But if the bill were to pass without any changes, he said, the Supreme Court would have difficulty finding reason to reject it, and it would likely win the support of two opposition parties, Yesh Atid and Yisrael Beytenu.
The minister said he was hopeful that Yesh Atid and Yisrael Beytenu would keep their promise to vote in favor of the bill.
He added that if the haredi parties did not agree to the bill by January 2019, Netanyahu would be forced to call for a snap election, which would likely be held in May 2019.
