Israeli Politicsupdated 1h ago3 min read
Archive photoIsraeli Opposition Moves To Oust Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, Target Netanyahu With Law
“signalling their willingness to help Gadi Eisenkot's bloc”
“Arab party leaders feel spurned by Eisenkot”
Photo: Shlomo Spitzer (שלמה שפיצר), CC BY 2.5 · Cropped for layout
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Opposition plans to replace Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana after elections, shifting parliamentary agenda. They aim to pass laws targeting Prime Minister Netanyahu and pursue legal action against him.
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Speaker first, laws next
Israeli opposition leaders moved to replace Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana of the Likud as their first step, with the Times of Israel saying the vote on a new speaker was likely to happen on November 10, the day the new Knesset is sworn in. The opposition bloc agreed on ousting Ohana before deciding who would form the next government, arguing that the speaker controls the parliamentary agenda and would give the camp opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sway over votes, legislation, and committee appointments. The “change bloc” of Yashar, B’Yachad, The Democrats and Yisrael Beytenu, together with the Arab-led parties the Joint List and Ra’am, control the majority of the 120 Knesset seats and will therefore be able to remove Ohana.
Walá cited unnamed sources saying opposition leaders planned a quadruple meeting at the home of opposition leader and Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid, with participation by Gadi Eisenkot, Avigdor Lieberman, and IYAD Golans. The opposition bloc intended to pass a law to form an official commission of inquiry into the events of October 7, 2023, and to pursue “the accused law” and repeal other judicial laws targeting Netanyahu.
Arab parties and Liberman
Israel’s Arab parties signaled willingness to help replace Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana while blaming Avigdor Lieberman for gridlock, as they weighed options after an unprecedented electoral success.
The opposition bloc’s majority included Arab-led parties the Joint List and Ra’am, and it described Channel 12 political analyst Barak Seri reporting that a deal to oust Ohana had already been reached.
Joint List chairman Prof. Yousef Jabareen framed the Joint List’s offer to work with the opposition, saying, “Change goes through Jewish-Arab partnership, a real and equal partnership. Nothing less than that, and nothing more than that,”.
Democrats chairman Yair Golan said, “the first thing we will do” after swearing in the Knesset is to appoint a new speaker, then appoint heads of Knesset committees and establish a state commission of inquiry into the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre.
Walá reported that the opposition camp’s most urgent issue was consultations beginning on Wednesday, November 11 of this year at the office of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to determine who would be tasked with attempting to form a government.
Netanyahu trial and coalition math
Netanyahu, aged 76, is being tried on corruption charges including bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, and it added that conviction would require his imprisonment. The opposition bloc would need a majority of the Knesset’s 120 members behind a single candidate to oust Ohana, and it described possible speaker candidates including Oded Forer of Yisrael Beytenu and Merav Ben-Ari and Eitan Ginzburg of B’Yachad. The opposition bloc’s majority would allow it to remove Ohana even while coalition talks continued, and it said the vote on a new speaker was likely to take place on the day the parliament is sworn in.
Bloc leaders intended to replace Ohana and manage parliamentary work and attempt to pass laws in the six weeks preceding the deadline for forming a government. Joint List leader MK Ahmad Tibi told “Meet the Press” that his party would not join the coalition in a “Meet the Press” interview on Saturday, noting that he and his fellow party members want to make the coalition process “easier, not harder.”
