Bennett declares he intends to maintain government stability despite defection

Following an emergency meeting of his Yamina faction, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett declares that the continued goal is a stable coalition.

“The main thing we need to currently be dealing with is the stability of the faction and of the coalition,” he says in a statement from his party following the meeting. “I spoke with all of the party leaders — everyone wants to continue with this government. This government is working on behalf of the citizens of the country.”

The prime minister says that there is “an opportunity here to take this event, to learn from it and to fix the gaps that have been created… the alternative is more elections and maybe more elections after that, and a return to the days of dangerous instability.”

Bennett did not publicly criticize Yamina MK Idit Silman for her decision this morning to defect from the government, leaving it teetering on the brink of dissolution without a clear majority.

“Idit suffered through persecution for months, verbal harassment at the worst level” by supporters of Benjamin Netanyahu and Bezalel Smotrich, he says. “She described to me the threats to the workplace of her husband and to the Bnei Akiv [youth group] of her kids. In the end she broke.”