Liberman says party will delay Knesset dispersal in order to pass Metro Law

Yisrael Beytenu head Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman says his party will delay Wednesday’s scheduled Knesset dispersal if the Metro Law does not pass.

“We intend to submit hundreds of reservations about the Knesset Dispersal Bill and the absurdity called ‘increasing party funding,'” Liberman writes on Twitter.

A spokesman for the finance minister confirms that the protest is tied to the Metro Law, currently held up as part of coalition-opposition negotiations over a final election date.

“[We will] make every effort to pass the Metro Law, which will deal most significantly with traffic jams and at the same time address housing and employment challenges in Israel,” Liberman writes.

Earlier this morning, Yisrael Beytenu MKs voted against a proposed clause of the dispersal law that would increase campaign financing allocations to parties. The party has been outspoken in the past against increasing campaign allowances to parties.

Party MK Yulia Milanovsky tells The Times of Israel that she blames the Likud party for the hold-up, saying that it is focused only on “politics and primaries.”

A Likud lawmaker tells The Times of Israel that the Metro Law will continue to be held up until elections are set for the party’s preferred date, October 25.