Outrage in Yesh Atid over MK Kol’s continued suspension

Yesh Atid MKs are reportedly outraged that their colleague Adi Kol’s suspension from parliamentary membership privileges — including the right to propose and sign laws — has extended into the Knesset’s winter session.

An undisclosed number of Kol’s fellow Yesh Atid members have privately opined that her punishment at the hands of the party should have been lifted at the start of the new term, rather than on November 1, the date of its scheduled termination, Haaretz reported.

Kol was suspended in July following her decision to abstain from voting on the so-called governability bill, which she opposed, without explicit permission from her party. The bill called for raising the electoral threshold from two to four percent, among other changes. 

Although the bill passed its first reading without her vote, and though Kol issued a public apology immediately following the abstention, her actions were deemed unacceptable by party leader Yair Lapid and she was subsequently penalized. 

The strong response leveled against Kol has been attributed, in part, to the active role Yesh Atid played in pushing for the governability law.