Budget delay passes, with help from a slippered Steinitz

Feeling the pinch of the coalition’s slim majority, Likud’s National Infrastructure Minister Yuval Steinitz dashed back to the Knesset late Monday night to help push through a motion to delay passage of the state budget.

Opposition parties Meretz, Yesh Atid and Zionist Union had each rounded up every available MK, and declined to adhere to an unspoken agreement whereby each side would voluntarily keep a member from voting if the other side had an lawmaker absent.

Instead, Economy Minister Aryeh Deri found himself performing a filibuster-style maneuver, mulling aloud the origin of his middle name, Machluf, until Steinitz, who had left the plenum earlier, could be brought back.

Once he was done with the etymology, Deri engaged in some nostalgia over the Hebrew lessons he attended as a young boy. And when opposition MKs expressed displeasure, he offered to hold a Q&A session.

Steinitz’s associates declined to say where the minister had been, and although they insisted he had not gone home, the Likud lawmaker returned clad in polo shirt and slippers.

Zionist Union MK Shelly Yachimovich snapped a picture of Steinitz, tweeting: “The coalition was missing a finger [to vote] and Deri dragged it out, until Yuval Steinitz arrived running in a pale blue shirt and slippers. It is in these moments that he’s actually endearing.”

 

 

 

 

 

The opposition had previously deployed a similar move, with Yesh Atid’s Mickey Levi stalling at the podium until he received a signal that the opposition had a likely majority. Other Yesh Atid MKs then gave up their right to speak in order to push ahead with the vote. At this point, Steinitz was summoned.

The late-night debate ended with the coalition securing a delay on the passage, by 56 votes to 54.