Another defeat for the coalition: The appointment of MK Matan Kahana as Minister of Religious Services was not approved on Monday night after a majority was not obtained in a vote of confidence in the Knesset plenum.
The proposal fell because the vote ended in a tie, with 55 MKs voting in favor and 55 voting against. MK Idit Silman voted against, thus risking being declared a defector from the Yamina party.
In response, Kahana wrote on his Twitter account, "Just a light blow."
The opposition praised MK Silman following her vote against the appointment of Kahana. Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on Twitter, "Silman, you are a champion!" MK Amichai Chikli, who was declared a defection from Yamina, wrote, "Silman, you are a champion, this is what leadership looks like."
The vote came hours after the coalition suffered another defeat when the Knesset plenum failed to approve the Judea and Samaria law, which would extend Israeli law in Judea and Samaria for five more years.
Two coalition members, Mazen Ghanaim (Ra’am) and Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi (Meretz), voted against the bill, while Silman was absent during the vote.
Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas was also absent from the Knesset plenum during the vote.
MK Yariv Levin (Likud) welcomed the fall of the law and said, "Today we advanced one step further toward the end of the failed left-wing government. A government that is unable to pass basic Zionist and security laws has no right to exist."
After Ghanaim voted against the law, MK Nir Orbach yelled at him, “You do not want to be partners. The experiment with you failed."
Religious Zionist Party chairman, MK Bezalel Smotrich, said after the law failed to pass, "Tonight it has once again been proven that this government relies on anti-Zionist elements and it cannot take care of the most basic values and needs of the citizens of Israel. This government has no right to exist and today, thank God, we have taken another step towards the end of the government of Bennett, Abbas and Tibi. Good riddance."
The Likud said, "Bennett – go home. It's over. It's time to bring Israel back to the right."