MKs Grounded for Duration of Crisis

In view of the extreme political turbulence in Israel, leaders of both the coalition and opposition parties have issued directives to MKs that no travel abroad will be allowed for the duration, Arutz Sheva reported on Tuesday evening.

The decision comes after Avigdor Liberman’s resignation left the coalition with only 61 members, a bare majority in the plenum, which will make it difficult to pass legislation, and will encourage the opposition to challenge the government on all fronts.

Two delegations that were set to leave in the next few days, one for Brussels and the other for Romania, have already been canceled, with the approval of Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein.

On Monday, the opposition defeated a coalition-backed bill to revise regulations on land ownership by five votes, dramatizing the need to have all MKs present in the plenum for voting. The coalition subsequently withdrew bills on the agenda until they could better organize their thinned-out ranks.