Izhar Shay
Izhar ShayNoam Revkin Fenton/Flas h90

Former Minister of Science and Technology, MK Izhar Shay (Blue and White), on Thursday evening sent a letter to the faction leaders in the 24th Knesset, in which he proposed an outline that would prevent Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu from forming a government and allow the formation of an alternate coalition.

At the basis of the outline is a proposal for the establishment of a national emergency government for a limited period of time and with focused guidelines that are based on broad agreements.

According to Shay’s proposal, the coalition will be based on Yamina, Yesh Atid, Blue and White, New Hope, Yisrael Beytenu, Labor and Meretz. The Joint List and Ra’am parties will support the government from outside.

The Prime Minister will be the leader of one of the three largest parties in the coalition (Yair Lapid, Benny Gantz or Naftali Bennett) and his identity will be determined through a vote among the 68 MKs from the above factions. If other parties choose to externally support the formation of the government, their members will also be able to vote on the identity of the Prime Minister. After the election of the candidate, all members of these factions will sign on a recommendation to the President to impose the task of forming the government on this candidate.

The national emergency government that Shay is proposing will focus on rehabilitating Israel from the coronavirus crisis, approving a budget for the years 2021-2023 and creating economic growth engines that will propel the economy. It will maintain the status quo with regard to religion and state in order to allow broad support for it, and will enact two basic laws: (1) Limitation of terms for the Prime Minister of Israel, and (2) Prohibiting a person charged with serious offenses from serving in office.

In his proposal, Shay wrote, "You, the party leaders who promised their voters a change, have a majority that was given to you in the democratic elections that took place here this week. We have no reason to believe that a fifth round will produce different results from the four rounds that preceded it, and national responsibility requires a creative solution to the dangerous impasse in which the political system finds itself. I turn to you, the faction leaders: Please, take responsibility, set a personal example, do what is necessary to form the government that the citizens of Israel expect."

"Do the right thing," he asked. "Those who do not support this government will have to provide explanations to the citizens of Israel about their priorities and the fact that they preferred narrow political considerations over the good of the state and its citizens. An if this government is not established and we go to elections again this year, you will have to explain to the citizens of Israel why you chose not to end the most serious political crisis in the country's history, why you preferred to go to another expensive and unnecessary round of elections."