Zionist Union bars its MKs from skipping Knesset votes after coalition shrinks

The Zionist Union opposition party orders all its lawmakers to participate in all Knesset plenum discussions and votes, citing a “new balance of power” after Avigdor Liberman’s resignation as defense minister.

The resignation, along with Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party leaving the coalition, left it with a razor-thin majority of 61 lawmakers in the 120-seat parliament and more vulnerable in votes.

“The Zionist Union is preparing for the new situation,” faction head MK Yoel Hasson says in a message sent to the party’s lawmakers. “We won’t approve any deductions, absence or trips abroad on days when the plenum convenes.”