Coalition whip delays Knesset vote on ‘Rabbis Bill’ to Sunday

Coalition whip MK Ofir Katz says in a statement he is postponing a Knesset vote on the so-called Rabbis Bill to Sunday.

If passed into law, the bill, pushed by Shas, could cost taxpayers tens of millions of shekels annually in salaries for hundreds of new neighborhood rabbis employed by local municipalities.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says he is holding up the legislation, as well as other coalition bills, until Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allows him into a high-level war-managing forum.

Katz’s statement comes shortly after officials in Otzma Yehudit claimed that there was progress in talks to include Ben Gvir in the forum.

“I will not endanger important laws for Israelis and the security of Israel that were meant to pass here today,” Katz says in his announcement of the postponement.

“Also, the prime minister’s visit to the US is of crucial importance and nothing should be allowed to interfere with it,” he adds.