New Coalition Tensions as Otzma Yehudit Boycotts Knesset Vote

Tensions within the coalition flared out in the open on Wednesday as the Otzma Yehudit party boycotted a Knesset vote on Wednesday.

Otzma Yehudit MKs, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, absented themselves from the plenum during a vote on budget allocations. The boycott was reportedly because the party did not feel that enough money was budgeted for the Negev and Galilee regions.

As a result, two bills sponsored by MKs from the opposition Yesh Atid party passed preliminary readings. One bill addressed diagnosing learning disabilities for children in low-income families while the other dealt with protecting Israel’s coastal environment.

The government’s immediate priority has pivoted from a contentious judicial overhaul initiative to passing a state budget. Failure to pass a budget by the end of May will automatically dissolve the Knesset and send Israel to its sixth election in under four years.

The tensions between Ben Gvir and the government are not new, but had been placed on the back burner during the recent Israel-Gaza conflict.

Before the Gaza crisis, Ben-Gvir boycotted a Cabinet meeting and Otzma Yehudit MKs who chair Knesset committees canceled their committee meetings.

Ben Gvir had criticized the government’s handling of Gaza rocket attacks before Israel began launching airstrikes on senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaders. He also opposed Israel returning Imad al-Adwan, a Jordanian lawmaker caught trying to smuggle weapons to Palestinians. On Tuesday, a Jordanian court charged Adwan with smuggling and undermining public order. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Ben Gvir also protested Israel returning the bodies of three Palestinian terrorists. Two were killed in a shootout with IDF soldiers while the third was killed while trying to stab soldiers in a separate incident.