Likud MK Rivlin joins opposition’s ’emergency meeting’

Likud MK Reuven Rivlin, who served as Knesset speaker during the tenure of the previous two governments, participated on Tuesday morning in an “emergency meeting,” organized by members of the opposition, to protest the “anti-democratic” policies they expect the new coalition to enact.

When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allocated Cabinet and parliamentary positions to members of his Likud party, Rivlin was unceremoniously replaced as Knesset speaker by former Diaspora affairs minister Yuli Edelstein.

Monday’s meeting “in defense of democracy” was spearheaded by MKs Dov Khenin (Hadash), Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism — UTJ) and Nachman Shai (Labor).

Despite the rough treatment from Netanyahu, Rivlin did not resign his seat in Knesset, and on Monday he told the gathering that his participation in the meeting was not an indication that he was joining the opposition. Nevertheless, the former speaker did speak out against the decision to increase the electoral threshold needed for a party to enter the Knesset.

One of the agreements reached during the coalition talks between Likud-Beytenu, Yesh Atid and Jewish Home was to raise the threshold for Knesset representation from 2 to 4 percent, thus making it much more difficult for smaller parties to enter parliament.

“We must allow as many positions as possible to be represented in the Knesset,” Rivlin told the gathering, adding that “the Knesset has in the past prevented civil war precisely due of its ability to represent all of the peoples’ views. We must preserve this.”

Rivlin also called on the government to pass legislation that would abolish the Arrangements Law, which is presented to the Knesset every year along with the Budget Law. The Arrangements Law incorporates various bills on different subjects, and puts them to the vote as one unified bill.

Opponents of the law charge that it is anti-democratic in that it bypasses the legislative process of the Knesset.

The Knesset’s new opposition, led by Labor, is made up of 52 MKs from Labor, Meretz, Kadima, Shas, UTJ and the three Arab parties. Raising the electoral threshold would force some of the parties to join forces ahead of the next elections to ensure that they keep their representation at the Knesset. All three Arab parties and Kadima polled less than 4% nationwide, and would have disappeared in the January 22 elections if the threshold had been set at that level.

Six weeks of negotiations following the elections resulted in a 68-member-strong coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu and made up of four parties: the joint Likud-Beytenu list with 31 Knesset seats, Yesh Atid with 19, Jewish Home with 12 and Hatnua with six. It won the support of the Knesset on Monday by 68-48, with four abstentions.

The opposition will be led by Labor chairwoman Shelly Yachimovich, as the head of the largest party with 15 seats.

At the swearing-in ceremony Monday, Yachimovich wished the new government luck, but noted bitterly: “This is an unrestrained, capitalistic government. It will not lead us to a diplomatic breakthrough or to any sort of relief.”

Ron Friedman contributed to this report.