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23rd Knesset
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a press conference about the coronavirus COVID-19, at the Prime Ministers Office in Jerusalem on March 11, 2020. (Flash90)
March 31, 2020, 12:47 am
Despite self-quarantine, for Netanyahu it’s mostly business as usual
Few limits on PM’s work, except perhaps having to do his own hair and needing to avoid top secret matters in video conferences; octogenarian president, too, continues with routine
By Raphael Ahren
Yair Lapid holds a press conference in Tel Aviv, March 26, 2020. (Elad Gutman/Blue and White)
March 26, 2020, 9:41 pm
Lapid: I trusted Gantz, but he stole our votes and handed them to Netanyahu
Announcing breakoff from former partner, chairs of Yesh Atid and Telem factions slam his ‘disappointing decision’ to ‘crawl’ into government with PM
By Raoul Wootliff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waiting for government ministers to join him before a special cabinet meeting for Jerusalem day in Jerusalem, June 2, 2016. (Marc Israel Sellem/Pool)
March 26, 2020, 7:58 pm
After a year of deadlock, a government emerges
Under reported deal, Netanyahu will hand over premiership to Gantz in September 2021, Ashkenazi will take defense portfolio and Chilli Trooper will be appointed justice minister
By Raoul Wootliff
Benny Gantz delivers his maiden speech as Knesset speaker, March 26, 2020. (Knesset)
March 26, 2020, 7:25 pm
Elected Knesset speaker by right wing, Gantz heads for government with Netanyahu
Emerging deal with Likud will reportedly see Blue and White leader as either foreign or defense minister, to take over as PM in 18 months; Lapid to head opposition
By Raoul Wootliff
Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz (L) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, on October 27, 2019. (Elad Malka)
March 26, 2020, 5:12 pm
Netanyahu and Gantz said forming unity government; Blue and White collapses
Likud incumbent will hand over to Blue and White rival in September 2021 under reported deal; angry Lapid heads to opposition; Gantz set to be Knesset speaker till unity pact done
By Raoul Wootliff
Blue and White party chairman Benny Gantz (R) and No. 2 Yair Lapid at a faction meeting in the Knesset on November 18, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
March 26, 2020, 4:33 pm
Unity government looms as Gantz seeks speakership, rending Blue and White
Party leader submits candidacy to be Knesset speaker, suggesting he’s considering joining unity government; move opposed by Yair Lapid
By Raoul Wootliff
Ayelet Shaked (R), leader and candidate of the New Right party that is part of the Yamina political alliance, speaks to the press while flanked by Jewish Home member and candidate Moti Yogev (L), National Union party leader and candidate Bezalel Smotrich (2nd-L), (Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP)
March 26, 2020, 9:47 am
Netanyahu allies slam High Court for ordering Thursday vote on new speaker
‘Democracy is dying slowly,’ alleges ex-justice minister Shaked; UTJ MK accuses judges of ‘despicable arrogance’ and intimates they should stand trial; vote to be held at 4 p.m.
By Michael Bachner and TOI staff
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein delivers a statement to the press in the Knesset in Jerusalem on January 12, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
March 26, 2020, 6:10 am
Edelstein showed us the rules of Israeli politics are changing fast
A year of political deadlock has dissolved the informal traditions that once reined in Israeli political wrangling, and brought a new surge of rage to an old constitutional dispute
By Haviv Rettig Gur
Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut at a court hearing on the Shin Bet's new emergency powers to track Israelis' movements using their cellphone location data to help combat the spread of the new coronavirus, March 19, 2019. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
March 26, 2020, 1:03 am
High Court orders vote for new Knesset speaker to go ahead Thursday
Late-night decision authorizes veteran Labor MK Amir Peretz to oversee vote; slams defiant resigned speaker Yuli Edelstein for causing ‘untold and serious damage’ to rule of law
By Raoul Wootliff and TOI staff
This composite photo shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Blue and White party chief, Benny Gantz, right, speaking separately at a media conference in Jerusalem, December 8, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Hadash Parush/Flash90)
March 26, 2020, 12:19 am
Netanyahu and Gantz discuss unity government, plan fresh talks
Conversation comes as rare sign of possible progress in negotiations for emergency government, after sides hitherto talked up unity but failed to actually move toward it
By Raoul Wootliff
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit at the annual INSS conference in Tel Aviv on January 28, 2020. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
March 25, 2020, 10:49 pm
AG: Edelstein’s resignation shouldn’t prevent an immediate vote on his successor
As High Court mulls whether to declare Likud MK in contempt, Mandelblit says the judges’ ruling compelling a vote can still be enforced
By Jacob Magid
President Reuven Rivlin (R) and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein at the President's Residence in Jerusalem on November 21, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
March 25, 2020, 9:39 pm
Rapping Edelstein, Rivlin says ‘unthinkable’ for lawmaker to ignore court order
In speech to nation, president avoids naming Knesset speaker, who resigned and refused to comply with ruling ordering vote on his replacement
By Jacob Magid
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein gives a press statement in the Knesset in Jerusalem on January 12, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
March 25, 2020, 5:29 pm
Edelstein to High Court: My conscience won’t allow me to comply with your order
Fighting contempt of court charge, Knesset speaker, who resigned but must still hold vote on his replacement, blames justices for ‘unprecedented constitutional crisis’
By Raoul Wootliff, Michael Bachner and TOI staff
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein (L) and Knesset legal adviser Eyal Yinon at the Knesset on May 7, 2013. (Flash)
March 25, 2020, 1:59 pm
In defiance of High Court order, Edelstein refuses to hold vote for new speaker
Knesset legal adviser says Likud MK’s resignation doesn’t release him from having to call vote; Edelstein says he won’t, plunging Israel into constitutional crisis
By Raoul Wootliff and Michael Bachner
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein at the Knesset in Jerusalem on December 11, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
March 25, 2020, 1:49 pm
Opposition lawmakers blast Edelstein’s resignation as a ‘war on democracy’
Labor MK says outgoing speaker is ‘humiliating the Supreme Court’; Regev attacks Blue and White; Likud’s Steinitz says disrespecting ruling ‘could lead to anarchy’
By Michael Bachner
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