MK: Plan to Cancel Elections Won’t Work

Regardless of whether or not a majority of Knesset members want to cancel the upcoming elections, doing so would practically impossible, Likud MK Miki Zohar told Reshet Bet radio, “At least 119 MKs do not want new elections, but from a legal perspective canceling the elections is not possible.”

The comments were prompted by a report on Channel 12 Sunday night that MKs from nearly all parties were considering legislation to cancel the September elections, and keep the Knesset in its current political alignment. According to the report, legal experts consulted by the Likud and the Blue and White party had determined that the Knesset could cancel its dissolution of itself by calling a special emergency meeting and approving legislation – with 80 MKs voting in favor – to cancel the elections.

The next stage would be the establishment of a national unity government which would include the Likud, Blue and White, and Kulanu. The report said that such a possibility had already been proposed right before the Knesset’s dissolution, but that it had been rejected by Yair Lapid. Now, Lapid was apparently more amenable to the idea. The report added that Michal Rosenbaum, a legal expert who had been the Likud’s nominee for the State Comptroller’s post, believes that a vote by 61 Mks would be enough to cancel the elections.

Not going to happen, said Zohar. “You cannot cancel the dissolution of the Knesset unless you know for sure that a government will be formed immediately upon the reconstitution of the plenum,” he told Reshet Bet. “It’s all very complicated, especially since we at this point are not interested in bringing Avigdor Liberman into the government. You would need 80 MKs to do this, and that would include MKs from Blue and White – and they have made it clear that they would not join a government that includes Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.”

MK David Bitan (Likud), in a separate interview on Army Radio, concurred. “I brought this idea up already two weeks ago, and I was told then that it wouldn’t work, because we need the support of Blue and White. They are always talking about how expensive the new elections and another day off will be, but they are unwilling to join a unity government to prevent that.”