Former coalition lawmakers take places of missing opposition MKs at special session

After opposition MKs leave the plenum to protest the exclusion of High Court president Isaac Amit from tonight’s special Knesset session featuring Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former coalition lawmakers take their places to fill the empty spots.

In order to prevent the Knesset from emptying out in the event of an opposition boycott, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana invited former MKs to attend this evening’s session. Ex-lawmakers such as United Torah Judaism’s Moshe Roth and Likud’s Pnina Rosenblum are among those who responded to the invitations.

“Amir Ohana made a lot of effort to make sure he has enough people in case the opposition makes any kind of circus, to leave the plenum or something like that,” says one former MK. “He made personal phone calls. I don’t think I was the only one he called.”

“The Knesset sent an email to all former MKs to invite them and there were specific ones that the speaker wanted to invite whom he called,” a coalition source tells The Times of Israel. “Only in very special circumstances and occasions does the Knesset send invitations to the entire list of former MKs. It just shows the level of significance and importance that the Knesset is ascribing to this visit.”