A scheduled meeting between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and MK Tzipi Livni, head of the opposition, has been cancelled. The two were to meet Friday to discuss the problems facing the Knesset following tension between the coalition and opposition.
Tensions came to a head on Tuesday when opposition MKs walked out of the Knesset hall, accusing the coalition of “changing the rules of the game.”
Opposition MKs returned Thursday to take part in discussions over the state budget, which passed an initial hearing in their absence. However, the dispute was not forgotten, and talks over the budget were disrupted when MK Yoel Hasson of Kadima termed coalition head MK Zeev Elkin a “dictator.”
Elkin accused Hasson of turning “a serious and important discussion” into “shouting and personal insults.”
Despite the tension, Elkin expressed satisfaction over the presence of opposition MKs, saying, “I'm glad they are here. This is how it should be.”
The opposition and coalition have clashed over several proposals in recent weeks. Among other things, opposition MKs have protested a proposal that would make the national budget biennial instead of annual, a bill that would raise the number of votes needed for any proposal costing more than five million shekels, the Norwegian Law, which would allow one minister from each party to leave the Knesset and be replaced by the next person on the party register, and a law that would allow seven MKs from a single faction to break off and be considered an independent faction.