Gotliv blasts plan to replace her on committee amid objection to rabbis bill

Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Likud MK Tally Gotliv accuses coalition whip Ofir Katz of acting as a “pawn of Deri and Netanyahu,” after being informed that she is to be removed as one of Likud’s representatives in the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee for blocking the advancement of a controversial bill changing how municipal rabbis are chosen.

Katz “does not have the authority to do this without the House Committee but he is doing it anyway,” she tweets, condemning those backing a “corrupt law during wartime.”

Aryeh Deri is the chairman of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party. On Monday evening, Channel 12 reported he had threatened to bring down the government if the bill isn’t passed. Critics of the bill charge that it would benefit the Shas party by providing jobs for its apparatchiks.

According to Hebrew media, coalition whip Katz has decided to substitute two new lawmakers for Gotliv and fellow Likud MK Moshe Saada.

Gotliv had reportedly initially agreed to be replaced by another lawmaker for the vote but ultimately backtracked, taking part in today’s committee meeting.

When announcing the cancellation of the vote due to insufficient support within the committee this morning, committee chairman Simcha Rothman lashed out at Saada and Gotliv.

Rothman said that coalition legislators should remember they are “acting as part of a framework” and that it is necessary to compromise “in order to preserve a unified government during war.”

Following the announcement that the committee will vote on the bill tomorrow morning, Gotliv slams Rothman, tweeting that he lied to local government representatives who oppose the bill by assuring them “that there would not be a vote without agreement.”

“As expected, they lied to you,” she says.

Weighing in on his Twitter account, Saada declares that he “opposes this bad law and its bad timing and no sanction or intimidation will change my ideological position.

“Today in the Constitution Committee we saw mayors, including those representing the Likud party, shouting against the injustice that this law creates and I am proud to stand by them and by the majority of the public even at the cost of removal from the committee,” he declares.

“Since the beginning of the war, I have criticized the government whenever it deviates from the values ​​that I and the majority of right-wing voters advocate, and I will continue to fulfill my role without fear.”

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