Yisrael Beytenu, Democrats demand vote to replace Knesset speaker at opening session of 26th Knesset

By Ariela Karmel

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

Yisrael Beytenu and the Democrats demand that the election of a new speaker be placed on the agenda of the 26th Knesset’s inaugural session on Tuesday, in separate letters to the outgoing 25th Knesset’s Speaker Amir Ohana

In last week’s election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies lost their parliamentary majority, with the six parties opposed to him securing 67 of the Knesset’s 120 seats. Their majority gives them the numbers needed to replace Ohana as soon as the new parliament convenes next week, even before the formation of a new government, which could take weeks or months.

The speaker wields considerable influence over parliamentary proceedings and, together with his deputies, the legislative agenda. Ohana cannot block a vote to elect his successor, which requires only a simple majority, provided the opposition parties agree on a candidate.

However, disagreements remain over who should succeed him. Naftali Bennett’s B’Yachad has proposed outgoing Opposition Leader party No.2 Yair Lapid, whose candidacy is also backed by Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, but Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar opposes the nomination and reportedly wants the position for one of its own lawmakers, a demand rejected by the other parties.