Chareidi lawmakers have been operating under the premise that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu plans to dissolve the Knesset and go to early elections instead of waiting until November 2019, the completion of this coalition’s term. The polls are working in Netanyahu’s favor and the Prime Minister does not wish to become entangled in dealing with the demands of chareidi parties regarding the new draft law.

However, according to a report appearing in Wednesday’s Yisrael Hayom, filed by Moti Tuchfeld, the Prime Minister has halted plans to dissolve the Knesset after learning that even if he succeeds in national elections, President Reuven Rivlin may not give him the mandate to form a coalition government, and this is the president’s option. It is well-known that relations between the two are far from pristine.

Learning this, Netanyahu is now initiating legislation that will restrict the authority of the President to ensure if he is successful in Knesset elections, he will be handed the presidential mandate to form a coalition. Netanyahu has included a number of his closest allies in this process. However, for now, until legal experts and others are consulted as to what can be done vis-à-vis the presidential mandate, the current coalition will continue serving.

The government must present a new draft law to the Supreme Court by the end of 2018, and Mr. Netanyahu does not want to address this, aware that if new elections are declared before the deadline, the High Court will extend the deadline for the draft law. This will permit addressing the draft law in a new coalition, which the chareidi parties realize may leave them with significantly less power than they wield today.

The President’s response to the report: “We read the report in depth, but we found it difficult to find real information except for a detailed description of paranoia that is not based on any concrete step or even thought that actually took place. As is well known, the treatment of such phenomena should be left to professionals who do not speak”.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)