Opposition leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) has instructed the Likud MKs to vote against the "Plastic Bags Law," despite agreements with the coalition on the matter.
The instruction follows a rough conversation between Netanyahu and United Torah Judaism (UTJ) chief MK Moshe Gafni, in which Gafni explained that the haredi parties would see voting in favor of the law or allowing Likud MKs to vote with their conscience as permission to decide for themselves how they want to vote on any issue, independently.
Gafni also said explicitly that allowing Likud MKs to vote with their conscience on the bill would lead to immediate consequences for other bills to be voted on that day.
MK Yisrael Eichler (UTJ) added: "It should be clear - if Likud allows MKs to vote with their conscience regarding the rise in plastic bag prices, members of UTJ will see this as official permission to vote on any law brought for a Knesset vote according to our own considerations and not according to the Likud's instructions."
The bill's initiator, MK Yorai Lahav Hertzanu (Yesh Atid) responded: "I am not willing to delay the vote. I expect that the Likud will stick with its agreements."