Deputy Prime Minister and Kadima party chairman Shaul Mofaz announced on Saturday evening that he will not keep the so-called “Confinement Law” on the agenda. The bill, which would make it harder for MKs to split away from the parties with which they entered the Knesset, was to have been debated on Sunday by the Ministerial Committee on Legislative Affairs, and had been expected to pass.
The new bill was written last week by Kadima’s newest party member, Yuval Zellner, who entered the Knesset on May 3, filling the slot made available by the resignation of former party head Tzipi Livni. Livni’s resignation came after she lost the chairmanship in the party leadership primaries to Mofaz in March. As new head of the opposition, Mofaz surprised many when he promptly agreed to join the current government on May 8, giving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a 94-strong coalition in the 120-member Knesset.
Among those surprised and angered by the coalition deal between Mofaz and Netanyahu were some members of Kadima. Amid fears that several would bolt the 28-strong Kadima Knesset faction and form a new faction, Zellner’s bill would make it much more difficult for members of a party to break off and form a new faction. Under current law, only seven of a party’s MKs would be required in order to establish a break-off party. A previous law, which Zellner’s would have restored, required the support of a third of a party’s MKs to break off.
The current law, which took effect in 2009, was widely seen as an attempt to make it easier for members of Kadima to break away from the party. It was called, ironically, the “Mofaz Bill”: because Mofaz was considered at the time to be the MK most likely to leave Kadima after losing an earlier round of party leadership elections to Livni. Mofaz himself spoke out against the bill at the time, earning him high praise from Livni, and he remained in the party’s number two spot.
According to Ynet, Mofaz’s decision to shelve the bill came after he met with several Kadima MKs and decided, out of respect for their concerns regarding the bill, that he would not push it forward. About five Kadima MKs are said to be considering breaking away from the party in protest at Mofaz’s decision to join the coalition, with another two reportedly more vaguely contemplating the idea.
Mofaz’s office said he was shelving the bill in order to underline the party’s unity as it pushes for legislation on electoral reform and mandatory national service — the two key items it has vowed to advance within the coalition.
