Coalition scrambling ahead of key vote; MK leaves shiva for mother, Netanyahu could come from hospital

The coalition is scrambling to muster enough votes to pass a key vote in the Knesset later today.

Hebrew media reports say that Likud MK Boaz Bismuth was asked to leave the shiva (the seven-day mourning period) for his mother to come to the Knesset to vote on the Trapped Profits Law, and he has done so.

The Walla news site also reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could leave the hospital where he is recovering from prostate removal surgery to cast a vote.

The scramble comes as the opposition says it will not offer the customary offset for absent government lawmakers. Meanwhile, some coalition MKs are threatening to also vote against the bill.

The far-right Otzma Yehudit party and ultra-Orthodox Agudat Yisrael faction of the United Torah Judaism party threatened yesterday to oppose the Trapped Profits Law, insisting their demands be met first.