Likud offers to back Metro Law in exchange for revoking rebel status of ex-Yamina MK

29 June 2022, 11:10 pm

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MK Amichai Chikli at a Knesset House Committee meeting on the Yamina party's request to declare him a 'defector,' on April 25, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Likud MK Miki Zohar has submitted an amendment to the bill to dissolve parliament that would see the opposition party agree to back the Metro Law in exchange for the coalition agreeing to revoke the rebel status of ex-Yamina MK Amichai Chikli.

The Metro Law would advance Israel’s largest-ever infrastructure package, securing marked improvements to Israel’s long-ailing public transportation system. But the bill has been held up by the opposition, which has refused to give the coalition a win ahead of elections.

Chikli ran with Yamina but refused to join the coalition due to its inclusion of left-wing parties. He was eventually declared a “rebel” MK, which bars him from running on an existing slate in the next election.

If his status is revoked, he would be able to run on the Likud slate. However, it is unclear whether such a move is legally permissible.