Herzog agrees to keep shamed lawmaker from sinking coalition

Opposition head Isaac Herzog on Tuesday agreed to a request from Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein to offset any attempt MK Oren Hazan might make to hurt the governing coalition, drawing fire from party colleagues for the move.

Hazan, a deputy Knesset speaker, was suspended from his duties Tuesday after allegations surfaced a day earlier that he hired prostitutes and used hard drugs while managing a casino in Bulgaria, before becoming a Knesset member.

Under the agreement between Edelstein and Zionist Union leader Herzog, the opposition will remove one of its own MKs from Knesset votes if Hazan doesn’t show up himself at the plenum.

The arrangement is significant because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition has the slimmest of majorities, with just 61 seats against 59 fielded by the opposition.

However, opposition MKs weren’t thrilled with Herzog’s decision.

“Why are we helping Netanyahu stay in power?” one opposition MK, who wasn’t named, told Haaretz. “For weeks we have been talking about our intention to be a fighting opposition and at the moment of truth we fold and give Netanyahu a chance to breath.”

Freshman MK Hazan tweeted earlier that he was meant to officiate over his first plenum session of the Knesset Tuesday night but had told Edelstein that he was “leaving the Knesset early today to meet with my lawyers.”

A furious Edelstein then officially pulled Hazan from his speaker duties.

In a Monday evening report titled “Prostitutes, drugs and the deputy speaker of the Knesset,” Channel 2 reporter Amit Segal presented recordings of former associates of Hazan who alleged that the freshman Likud Knesset member would hire prostitutes for his guests, and that he bought and smoked crystal meth.

The exposé quoted two Israeli tourists and a casino employee who confirmed that Hazan would provide prostitutes for his guests in the Burgas casino, where he held a stake. Both prostitution and hard-drug use are illegal in Bulgaria.

Under the Knesset’s laws, Edelstein cannot dismiss Hazan from his position. Removing a sitting member from the Knesset cannot be easily done and would likely require the MK to voluntarily waive his parliamentary immunity.

Hazan, 33, denied the charges Tuesday and told Edelstein that he had no plans to leave his position as deputy Knesset speaker, as a maelstrom of condemnation turned the scandal into a full-blown farce.

On Monday night, Hazan’s attorney Avraham Keren sent a letter to Channel 2 and Segal, accusing them of libel and demanding that they retract the story and apologize.

Hazan is the son of disgraced Likud MK Yehiel Hazan, who was convicted of forgery, fraud and breach of trust after double-voting in the Knesset in 2003 and attempting to cover up the evidence.