The opposition succeeded in advancing a bill opposed by the government after Jewish Home MKs Bezalel Smotrich and Shuli Moalem left the plenum and cost the coalition two votes.
The bill, presented by Yesh Atid MK Meir Cohen, aims to limit the number of cases a social worker can handle at any one time.
In the vote, 44 opposition MKs voted for the bill, with 42 coalition MKs voting against.
Smotrich made a point of his leaving the plenum, and tweeted shortly afterwards: “I was now absent from a vote over a bill presented by the opposition, in protest for the many broken promises by [Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu to enable planning and construction in Jerusalem. Promises should be kept.”
Associates in Smotrich’s office told right-leaning website Srugim: “Without construction in Jerusalem, there will be no coalition.”
Smotrich is likely to be punished for his disloyalty to the coalition. He may be penalized within his faction, Jewish Home, but also by Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein, from Likud, the party leading the coalition. Smotrich is deputy speaker, and Edelstein may decide to punish him by taking this role from him.
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