MK Moshe Gafne continues to threaten the coalition, that he will not participate in votes to back the coalition until such time his Shabbos Bill is advanced in the Ministerial Law Committee. Realizing that not all the chareidi elected officials back the bill, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has shelved it, preventing it from moving forward.

Gafne’s bill intends to circumvent the recent High Court of Justice ruling which permits grocery stores to operate in Tel Aviv on Shabbos.

As Gafne continues to threaten the coalition, Shas party chairman Minister Aryeh Deri expresses opposition to the bill. Deri is simply being pragmatic, well-aware that with Yisrael Beitenu and Kulanu in the coalition, the bill doesn’t have a chance of passing into law. It was agreed upon on Sunday morning Rosh Chodesh Kislev that Deri, Gafni and Tourism Minister Yariv Levin would sit together and attempt to work out a solution.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)