Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar's ultimatum on the passage of legislation for emergency regulations for Judea and Samaria is causing an uproar in the political system. The New Hope leader has threatened to topple the government should the bill fail to pass the Knesset.
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Both the Ra'am and Meretz parties have found it difficult to throw their support behind a bill they say would constitute de facto annexation and the application of Israeli law in Judea and Samaria.
According to Likud officials, Sa'ar has realized the government would be short-lived because it was incapable of passing basic laws in the Knesset. They told Israel Hayom that despite denials from Sa'ar and New Hope, talks had been held in recent weeks between Likud members and close associates of the justice minister on the establishment of an alternative government in the current Knesset.
They said that within New Hope, there are those who understand the current coalition cannot continue and are willing to cooperate with the Likud. Sa'ar, they said, is not entirely ready to take the plunge, and therefore the chances of him agreeing to join a government led by Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu were not particularly high. They said Sa'ar had been made to understand that in such a government, he would not be able to serve as justice minister and would not have a significant say in the justice system.
Speaking to Channel 12 News Wednesday, Sa'ar said: "There was no negotiation. There is no negotiation. And if I would think about changing my position, and this isn't my position, then I would go to the public and explain why I changed my mind."
Foreign Minister and Prime Minister-designate Yair Lapid, meanwhile, informed Sa'ar that the emergency regulations would pass the Knesset.
Lapid's Yesh Atid party is attempting to convince Ra'am and Meretz MK Ghaida Rinawe Zoabi to support the law. Ra'am, however, is concerned that if the opposition convinces former coalition member Yamina MK Idit Silman to vote against the bill, the legislation will be defeated in the Knesset, leaving Ra'am having voted for a law they do not support and failing to achieve the greater goal of keeping the coalition intact.
Israel Hayom has learned Rinawie Zoabi recently demanded the coalition allocate 120 million shekels toward the renovation of schools in the Arab sector. Yesh Atid officials tasked with ensuring Rinawie Zoabi, who has already quit the coalition and rescinded the move, remains in the coalition said this was not about a payout.
They said: "There is no talk of giving something to Zoabi in return for her support for the bill. This is a budget that exists in the five-year plan [for the Arab sector], and this was a request to move up the implementation of the budget."
Yamina officials are furious over what they described as the "blackmail by Arab Knesset members in the coalition."
Yamina MK Nir Orbach said: "The Israeli government must not capitulate to the incessant blackmail by some of the Arab lawmakers. Not MK Zoabi or anyone else. The emergency regulations for Judea and Samaria must pass the Knesset. Our right to act in the settlements is not in question, and this is how it will continue."
Against the background of the coalition crises and the opposition's attempts to hold talks with Justice Minister and New Hope party leader Gideon Sa'ar, right-wing civil society organizations were set to convene in Jerusalem on Monday to consolidate a detailed action plan for a future right-wing government.
Ahead of the conference, opposition members conducted polling showing a large majority of the nationalist public understands the urgent need for judicial reform, governance in the Negev Region, the Galilee, and mixed Jewish-Arab cities, the bolstering of Jewish identity, among others.
Religious Zionism Party leader Bezalel Smotrich, who convened the meeting, said: "Over the last year, the Right has learned an important lesson, and a correction is necessary. Our job is to know and listen to the public's sentiments for the correction and promotion of a genuine right-wing policy. A right-wing government will be established that is committed to meeting the public expectations of promoting nationalist, Zionist policy to a far greater extent than we have seen in the past."
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