Benjamin Netanyahu suffers rebellion in vote linked to Israeli judicial overhaul
Source: The Guardian
Benjamin Netanyahu suffers rebellion in vote linked to Israeli judicial overhaul
Political chaos weakens prime minister as he pursues controversial changes
Bethan McKernan in Jerusalem
Thu 15 Jun 2023 12.35 BST
Last modified on Thu 15 Jun 2023 13.28 BST
A rebellion by members of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, government in an important vote related to controversial judicial changes has dealt the longtime leader a political setback, bringing divisions in his coalition to the fore and scuppering compromise talks with the opposition.
The Knesset was expected on Wednesday to elect two political representatives to Israel’s nine-member judicial selection committee, one of the key issues in the six-month-old debate over the nature of Israeli democracy, and a vote widely viewed as a referendum on the future of the overhaul.
Usually, one political appointee is chosen by the government and one by the opposition, but several hardliners in Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist coalition had demanded that both positions be filled by government representatives.
At the last minute, the prime minister decided to push for more time, ordering his nationalist-religious coalition to vote against all candidates – a move that would trigger a new vote in the next 30 days.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/15/benjamin-netanyahu-suffers-rebellion-in-vote-linked-to-israeli-judicial-overhaul
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