Netanyahu calls for coalition unity, not elections
Amid simmering anger over controversial conversion bill, PM says a return to the polls is 'the last thing' the country needs
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged his coalition partners on Wednesday to stay loyal to the government and not precipitate early elections by fragmenting over disagreements.
“The last thing we need now is elections,” Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. “The State of Israel needs a stable, strong and responsible government, and I call on all members of the coalition to work together and to continue working together for the benefit of the State of Israel and its citizens.”
Netanyahu highlighted some of the issues that the government expects to deal with during the coming winter session that begins next week, including cutting red tape and minimizing what he called “excess regulation,” and moving forward with both natural gas and alternative energy initiatives.
The prime minister didn’t mention the Conversion Bill, a controversial piece of legislation from which he withdrew his support earlier this week leading to speculation that coalition partner Hatnua would exit the government if the bill is not approved. The Conversion Bill would allow Israelis to convert to Judaism through any municipal rabbinate, thus enabling potential converts, especially Russian-speaking relatives of Jews who immigrated from the former Soviet Union, to bypass any state rabbi who refuses to convert them and find a rabbi who will.
The Hatnua party has consistently championed the reform, which passed the first of three required readings in the Knesset plenum last summer with Netanyahu’s support over vehement opposition from the Chief Rabbinate and ultra-Orthodox parties which asserted that it would lead to fragmentation of standards for conversion and confusion in the state religious system.
The Jewish Home party, led by Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, has also registered its opposition to the bill in the past and was expected to fight it and possibly even bolt the coalition if Netanyahu continued to support it.
A standoff with Hatnua would not necessarily create a coalition crisis, as Netanyahu’s government could survive without the party’s six seats. However, losing Jewish Home’s 12 seats would risk his parliamentary majority and force the prime minister to either scramble to find new partners or hold new elections.