Coalition Passes PM Rotation Law

The Bennett-Lapid coalition overcame more than 15 hours of filibuster mounted by the opposition to pass an amendment to Israel’s Basic Law allowing the prime minister’s office to be held in rotation.

The final vote in favor was 61 to 2, as opposition MKs walked out of the Knesset plenum.

Barring a successful no-confidence motion in the meantime, the law now sets August 27, 2023 as the date when Bennett will be replaced by Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid, whose term is set to end on November 11, 2025.

Failure to pass a state budget by November would also trigger new elections.

The opposition boycotted the final roll call to protest the coalition initiating an additional vote in a manner the opposition called unfair. Likud MK David Amsalem accused the coalition of “bullying.”

Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy said he had the right to add more roll call votes, as long as they were balanced, according to The Jerusalem Post.

The law also authorizes the prime minister to appoint a second deputy in the Prime Minister’s Office, in addition to MK Abir Kara.

Ra’am (United Arab List) leader Mansour Abbas is expected to get the job.