The opposition bloc, led by Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot, submitted the 61 signatures required to advance the replacement of Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana on Wednesday.
Following the submission of the signatures, Ohana is required to convene a vote on his replacement within no more than one week. The bloc's candidate for Knesset Speaker is incoming MK Matan Kahana of the Yashar party.
Among the MKs who signed the request to replace the Knesset Speaker were members of Ra'am and the Joint List.
Esti Yaniv, the mother of brothers Hallel and Yagel Yaniv, who were murdered in a terrorist attack in Huwara nearly three years ago, responded to the move, writing: "My children received a burial plot on Mount Herzl because of Arabs. Matan Kahana will receive a plot on Mount Herzl with Arab votes. Choose whom you identify with."
Religious Zionist Party chairman and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also sharply criticized the move, particularly its reliance on signatures from MKs representing the Arab parties.
"Being appointed Knesset Speaker with the votes of Israel's enemies is illegitimate. It is moral bankruptcy. A complete loss of moral judgment," Smotrich said.
He then addressed Kahana directly, urging him not to accept the position under the current circumstances.
"I call on Matan Kahana not to repeat the mistakes of the past made by the Muslim Brotherhood government, and to refuse to accept the position as long as it is made possible through the support of parties that view the establishment of the State of Israel as a catastrophe and undermine its right to exist," he declared.