Likud’s Gotliv sanctioned, booted from committees after causing Knesset chaos
Coalition imposes punitive measures against MK, who earlier asserted she would not be punished for refusing to remove her candidacy for Judicial Selection Committee; she’ll appeal
Coalition whip Ofir Katz on Thursday announced a series of sanctions against renegade Likud MK Tally Gotliv, who defied coalition discipline and refused to withdraw her candidacy for the Knesset’s Judicial Selection Committee on Wednesday, causing parliamentary chaos for the coalition.
Gotliv will be removed from her parliamentary committee assignments, including her seat on the influential Constitution, Law and Justice Committee which has been tasked with advancing the judicial overhaul legislation. She will also be barred from submitting any legislation and will be prevented from formally speaking on behalf of the Likud party in Knesset proceedings, Katz said.
Gotliv responded by vowing to appeal and belittling Katz as being “No. 32 on the Likud list and a loyal soldier” who leaked his decision to the press rather than informing her himself. She added that she had checked with the party’s legal counsel and confirmed that her decision to defy the leadership was not considered a violation of coalition discipline. “You acted like a bully and in a vindictive manner,” she said to Katz. “My loyal Likud friends, please remind him that you are watching.”
The Likud lawmaker said that she intends to appeal the decision first with the Attorney General and then the High Court of Justice. Gotliv said it was her duty and her right to “engage in parliamentary work in the Knesset – the public pays me for exactly that.” She accused the party of trying to silencing her with “draconian and uncontrolled sanctions.”
Gotliv was defeated soundly in Wednesday’s votes during which at least four members of her own party were believed to have backed the opposition’s candidate Yesh Atid MK Karine Elharrar in a separate tally. Elharrar was elected while no coalition candidate was chosen, in a major political embarrassment for the ruling bloc and its leader Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On Thursday morning, Likud Culture Minister Miki Zohar told the Ynet news site that Gotliv could face suspension from the faction if she doesn’t “fall in line.”
But Gotliv issued her own threat to the party, telling Ynet hours later that Likud had no right to sanction her, arguing she had no obligation to follow party directives in a secret ballot.
“Not only can’t they banish me from the faction, but believe me — it would be better for them if I am not suspended,” said the firebrand MK, whose only been in the Knesset for six months.
“I say to them in no uncertain terms, and I say it with eight exclamation points — they won’t place any sanctions against me,” she declared.
Gotliv claimed that she has “immense power among right-wing voters,” and that she was “sure that right-wing voters will take to the streets” for her in similar numbers that came out in support of the judicial overhaul — some 200,000 people — if Likud decided to sanction her.
Gotliv had been ordered by Netanyahu to rescind her candidacy for one of the Knesset’s two spots on Judicial Selection Committee in order to make way for the coalition’s consensus candidate, Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kroizer.
Gotliv held her ground on Wednesday, despite being shouted down by Netanyahu and other Likud MKs during a faction meeting. The premier directed the coalition to vote against both Gotliv and Elharrar in what would give him another month to get his coalition in line before another vote would be held.
But in the secret ballot that took place later in the day, four coalition members — believed to be from Likud — voted in favor of Elharrar, giving her 58 yes against 56 no votes.
Gotliv, meanwhile, was overwhelmingly voted down in her own separate ballot.
Despite the opposition’s victory, the bloc’s leader Yesh Atid chair Yair Lapid along with National Unity chair Benny Gantz announced Thursday that they would be staying away from negotiations with the coalition aimed at reaching a compromise on the judicial overhaul.
They maintained that Netanyahu had committed in the negotiations to convening the Judicial Selection Committee in June and the failure to fill the Knesset’s second spot on the panel means it won’t be able to meet for at least another month until the make-up vote is held.
Gotliv told Ynet Thursday that despite her failed candidacy, she does not regret her decision to buck her party leadership and try anyway.
She also maintained that the vote on Elharrar’s candidacy exposed the existence of “traitors” within Likud. Gotliv claimed it also proved her fears that the government’s judicial “reform is dead” and that the coalition does not have the majority necessary to pass the overhaul legislation.
