Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana announced Tuesday evening that, following an unusual request submitted by 67 members of Knesset, the plenum will hold a debate next Tuesday, followed by a vote to elect the Speaker of the 26th Knesset.
"Unfortunately, according to media reports, the unusual request to elect a Knesset Speaker before the swearing-in of the government is intended to advance legislation that would grant enormous power to the Attorney General and further deepen the imbalance between elected officials and the unelected bureaucracy," Ohana said in a statement.
He added, "Despite my strong opposition to the intentions of the emerging coalition, I will act as I promised and respect the wishes of the majority of Knesset members. Accordingly, the plenum will convene in one week."
The anti-Netanyahu bloc's candidate for Knesset Speaker is MK Matan Kahana of the Yashar party. Among the MKs who signed the request to replace the 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.