Heading to Glasgow, Bennett says ‘desperate’ opposition will fail to foil budget
At airport, PM focuses on politics rather than climate, declaring that his government will pass the budget and survive, thwarting an ‘endless election cycle’
Departing for the UN climate summit in Glasgow, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday evening expressed confidence the budget would be approved this week, despite “desperate” attempts by the opposition to prevent its passage and effectively topple the government.
In a short address on the tarmac at Ben Gurion Airport that included no references to the climate crisis, Bennett said: “Here in Israel we expect a crazy week, which will get wilder every day as the vote on the budget gets closer. The moment the budget passes, it gives the government stability for several years.”
Bennett said “the budget will pass because Israel needs stability… because the country needs good, calm management… because no one wants to return to the endless elections cycle.”
The last time an Israeli government managed to pass a budget was in March 2018. Failure to approve the budget was what brought down the previous government late last year. Israel has had four election cycles since April 2019.
The budget bill for 2021 passed its first reading in September by a 59-54 vote, with the 2022 budget getting the go-ahead with a vote of 59 to 53.
The bill will now be brought to the Knesset floor for a vote on its second and third readings. It will need to pass a final vote by November 14 if snap elections are to be averted but the coalition is hoping to hold the vote this Thursday, some 10 days ahead of the deadline.
Bennett said Sunday that not only will the coalition be strengthened by the passing of the budget, but the opposition, led by former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will disintegrate.
“The implication for the opposition is that it will fall apart and crumble to pieces. They understand this. They’re desperate. They are desperate to bring down the budget and bring about a fifth election [since April 2019],” Bennett said.
“Therefore, we expect a week of big fake news,” Bennett continued.
“There is nothing they won’t do this week to bring down the budget and lead to fifth elections. But I want to calm everyone. They are wasting their efforts,” he said, referring to a highly unusual vote of no confidence called by the opposition for Monday while the prime minister is abroad. “The budget will pass.”
Closing his remarks, Bennett asked coalition lawmakers to be patient over the coming week and avoid trouble on the way to the passage of the budget.
His comments came after rebel Yamina MK Amichai Chikli said Saturday that he would not vote with the coalition in favor of the budget, potentially jeopardizing the survival of the government.
“I do not do the mathematics of self-interest, and there is no deal by which I will support the budget,” Chikli, who is a member of the prime minister’s party, told Channel 12 news. He also said that his party had not tried to discuss the budget with him, and has not attempted to gain his support.
The diverse composition of the government led by Bennett — made up of right-wing, centrist and left-wing parties and an Islamist faction — is complicating the effort to pass the budget, with the opposition of a single lawmaker theoretically able to bring down the wafer-thin coalition.
Chikli claimed, with no evidence, that the money set aside in the budget for projects in the Arab community would instead be used for “radicalization.”
“It’s a very dangerous budget. NIS 30 billion is going to be managed by the Ra’am party and [its leader] Mansour Abbas, and that is a very bad thing,” he said, referring to the coalition member.
Government officials have vowed to advance nearly NIS 35 billion ($10.3 billion) in total funding for the Arab community over the next five years in an attempt to compensate for decades of state neglect in Arab cities and to deal with skyrocketing crime.
Bennett is leading a 120-strong Israeli delegation to the COP26 Glasgow talks.
On Friday, Bennett and Energy Minister Karine Elharrar announced that Israel will join the growing number of countries pledging to be carbon neutral by 2050.
The move upends the policy of the previous government, announced in April, which was to cut carbon emissions by 80% across the board by 2050 and emissions from the electricity sector in particular by up to 85%.
As well as addressing the climate crisis, Bennett is slated to meet with a series of world leaders at the Glasgow conference.
He will hold meetings with Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The meetings will be Bennett’s first with the leaders as premier.
Bennett will also meet with Bahraini Prime Minister and Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Italian Premier Mario Draghi, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
