Israeli political crisis deepens with dispute over parliament speaker

TEL AVIV - Israel’s Supreme Court ordered the speaker of the parliament on Monday to put into motion a move in parliament, which he had rejected, that could weaken close ally Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hold on power.

The Supreme Court ordered speaker Yuli Edelstein, of Netanyahu's Likud Party, to hold an election for his own successor by Wednesday, deepening a standoff between opponents and supporters of Netanyahu.

The rare court intervention in parliamentary procedure followed Edelstein’s refusal to adhere to a March 25 deadline for holding the vote that would likely remove him as speaker. That vote would also likely fast-track legislation to bar Netanyahu from forming a new government, as a corruption trial looms for Israel's longest-serving Prime Minister.

In her decision, Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut said "the continued refusal to allow the vote in the Knesset plenum on the election of a permanent speaker is undermining the foundations of the democratic process."

In response, one of Netanyahu's closest surrogates, Cabinet Minister Yariv Levin, accused the court of “formally taking control of the Knesset” and attempting to engineer a parliamentary "coup".

The court order exacerbates the country's deep political crisis as it faces the coronavirus outbreak. Edelstein's dismissal of the court's call to hold a vote for his successor came after he suspended parliamentary activities, citing procedural issues and restrictions on large gatherings due to the pandemic.

The crisis also comes as Netanyahu was looking to convince his rivals to form an emergency unity government to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, in the wake of the country's third inconclusive election in less than a year. 

Earlier Netanyahu's surrogate, interim justice minister Amir Ohana had called on Edelstein to ignore the court's order.

Edelstein wrote in reply to the court that he will "not agree to an ultimatum" and that "a permanent Knesset speaker has never been elected at a time of such great uncertainty concerning the composition of a future coalition." He said he would not put the Knesset speaker vote on the agenda until the political situation becomes clearer.

Netanyahu's chief political rival Benny Gantz, head of the Blue and White party, has pledged to support the government in its effort to combat the virus. But he and his allies have been skeptical about Netanyahu's power-sharing overtures, concerned that he will not follow through on his promises to cede power in 18 months.

Blue and White, which is backed by a slim majority in the newly elected Knesset, had opposed Edelstein's suspension of parliament and insisted that the country’s legislature must continue to function at such a critical time. The party accused Edelstein of suspending the legislature under the pretense of taking measures against the coronavirus in order to keep his job and shield his beleaguered party leader.

"Democracy and law in Israel will be protected even if it's not comfortable for someone," Blue and White leader Benny Gantz said in a speech to the mostly empty Knesset chamber after parliament reconvened on Monday. Israel has strictly limited the size of public gatherings due to the coronavirus threat.

Although no government has been formed to replace Netanyahu’s caretaker coalition, a new parliament has been sworn in consisting of Netanyahu’s main rivals - a coalition of the Blue and White party and its allies, which includes an alliance of Arab parties.

Blue and White is expected to choose a new speaker and use that parliamentary majority to push through legislation that would bar anybody under investigation on criminal charges - i.e. Netanyahu - from serving as prime minister in the future.

The far-right Likud party, which counts anti-Arab Israeli nationalists and supporters of the Jewish settler movement as a key voter base, has in turn accused Blue and White of relying on the votes of Palestinian-Israeli members of parliament to “trample democracy” amid a national state of emergency, and vowed to boycott a vote for a new speaker.

Netanyahu and his allies on Monday boycotted a vote to convene the key Arrangements Committee, which is authorized to create the parliament’s other decision-making committees. It passed by 61 votes to 0; 61 is the exact number of seats controlled by Blue and White and its coalition partners, a majority by just one seat in Israel's 120-seat Knesset.

Likud said it would take no part in the “unprecedented destructiveness" represented by the Blue and White coalition's reliance on the Joint List, a political alliance of the main Arab-Israeli (Palestinian) parties in Israel that decided to support Gantz' leadership bid out of their mutual desire to see Netanyahu removed from power.

Netanyahu’s Likud emerged as the largest party in the March 2 election, but along with its smaller religious and nationalist allies only won control of 58 seats — leaving his right-wing bloc three seats short of the required majority in Parliament.

Gantz’s majority bloc is deeply divided along ideological lines and unlikely to band together to form an alternative government. The key difference has been between the Joint List and the secular-nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu headed by former Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who has himself been accused of anti-Palestinian racism and incitement.

Both the Joint List and Yisrael Beiteinu share mutual suspicions of each other, but they are determined to oppose Netanyahu and could possibly cooperate in parliament to that end.

The opposition has accused Netanyahu of using the coronavirus crisis as cover to undermine Israeli democratic institutions. With the country in near-shutdown mode, Netanyahu has not only postponed his own pending criminal trial on serious corruption charges, but has also authorized unprecedented electronic surveillance of Israeli citizens in the name of battling the pandemic.

Netanyahu faces charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in connection to a series of scandals. He is accused of receiving expensive gifts from wealthy friends and offering to exchange favors with powerful media moguls. The long-ruling Israeli leader denies any wrongdoing and says he is the victim of a media-orchestrated witch hunt.

Even amid the health scare, Israelis have taken to the streets to protest what they consider an assault on Israeli democracy.