Ben Gvir’s party to offset PM at Knesset with wayward MK until he recovers — source

The far-right Otzma Yehudit party is planning on pairing MK Almog Cohen with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to offset the premier’s vote until he recovers from his recent surgery, a coalition source tells The Times of Israel.

Otzma Yehudit chairman and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Saturday evening pledged to continue voting against the coalition but expressed regret for not offering an offset for Netanyahu, who was forced to leave the hospital less than two days after undergoing prostate surgery to cast a vote in the Knesset due to Ben Gvir’s revolt last week. Cohen was the only Otzma Yehudit MK to break party discipline to vote with the coalition on a critical budget-related bill last Tuesday.

The process of giving the coalition a pass by allowing it to retain the same majority margin via an offset for absent government lawmakers is a commonplace gesture, but not a requirement, in the Knesset, frequently arranged between the coalition and opposition for lawmakers who are ill or have pressing social engagements, family commitments, and so on.

“He’s going to have Almog pair off with Bibi — two birds with one stone,” the source states.

This means that as long as Netanyahu cannot make it to vote in the Knesset, Cohen will not vote either. However, given that Cohen has continued to vote with the coalition, such a move would not help Netanyahu in the way a normal offset would.

Instead, assigning Cohen to offset Netanyahu would only serve to prevent him from continuing to vote with the coalition, thus depriving it of another necessary vote —— while at the same time potentially preempting criticism that Otzma Yehudit was forcing the prime minister to attend votes in the plenum before he is fully recovered.

Contacted by The Times of Israel, Cohen says that he is unaware of the matter, while an Otzma Yehudit party spokesman does not immediately respond to a request for comment.