Shas chairman MK Aryeh Deri spoke in person with members of the Joint List Party in order to persuade them to vote with the Likud on Wednesday as well as earlier in the week, on Monday, Kan 11 News reports.
On Monday, Deri mobilized the Joint List in a vote of non-confidence that did not pass because of one vote, and on Wednesday he mobilized the Likud to vote on a commission of inquiry that will examine the discrimination against Arab teachers in the education system.
According to Wednesday’s report by journalist Michael Shemesh, the Shas chairman has in fact become the liaison with the Joint List, due to the tense relations between its leaders and the coordinator of the opposition, MK Yariv Levin.
The coalition suffered its first loss in the winter session on Wednesday in the vote on the establishment of the parliamentary commission of inquiry to examine the transfer and placement of Arab teachers in the education system. This time, too, the loss was by one vote, 47 to 46.
At least one of the two MKs of Ra'am, Waleed Taha and Mazen Ghanaim, was supposed to be in the plenum and vote against the opposition’s proposal, but both of them were absent and allowed the opposition to win.
Mansour Abbas' party is reportedly angry with the coalition, saying, "They are not promoting our laws and then expecting us to vote with them. It will not happen."