The ruling Likud and the nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party inked a coalition agreement this week that paved the way for the latter’s entrance into Israel’s government.
The two parties began negotiating on May 18, when reports emerged that Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman would replace Moshe Ya’alon as defense minister. Yisrael Beiteinu will add five seats to the coalition, bringing the total to 66 of the Knesset’s 120 seats. Yisrael Beiteinu lawmaker Sofa Landver will become immigrant absorption minister.
The coalition agreement makes it easier to impose the death penalty on Palestinian terrorists who commit murder by removing a requirement that the decision be unanimous. The agreement also includes increased pensions for Israel’s elderly, as well as increased funding for public housing.
The agreement, according to Ynet, requires a unanimous vote from all coalition parties for any change in religious legislation. Effectively, that clause gives United Torah Judaism and Shas, the two haredi Orthodox coalition parties, veto power over reforms Yisrael Beiteinu had sought in Israel’s conversion law. The haredi parties oppose any such reform.
Upon signing the coalition deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the Labor Party, Israel’s largest opposition faction, to join the coalition so Israel could pursue a peace accord. — jta