Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein addresses Russian parliament in Moscow on June 28, 2017 (Photo courtesy Knesset Speaker’s Office)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Edelstein has served in the role since 2013 and is among the most popular members of Likud, as well as a Netanyahu ally. He has been in the Knesset since the mid-1990s after moving to Israel in 1987 from the Soviet Union, where he had been imprisoned for three years for being a leading Zionist activist.
Yes \u2014 the March vote was the third in less than a year. That\u2019s the problem.<\/p>\n
Elections in Israel typically produce a clear winner who assembles a governing coalition from a Knesset majority. That majority then elects the speaker.<\/p>\n
But the balloting in March, as well as in April and September last year, did not produce a clear winner. Going back to April, it looked like Likud was going to remain in power, so Edelstein ran as speaker unopposed and won. Since then, the Knesset has been deadlocked, but Edelstein has remained in the role, absent a clear successor.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s changed now is that the Knesset has a slim anti-Netanyahu (and hence anti-Edelstein) majority led by the centrist Gantz. That majority is really fragmented and has yet to actually form a government. But the anti-Netanyahu camp still wants to put one of its own members in the speaker\u2019s job immediately, so that it can begin to pass laws.<\/p>\n
So why don\u2019t they just vote him out?<\/strong>Is he allowed to do that?<\/p>\n
Edelstein asserts that he\u2019s following the law and Israel\u2019s political norms. The law says that elections for speaker are supposed to come by the time a coalition government is formed. Beyond that, he says that he gets to decide when to hold the election for speaker.<\/p>\n
In other words, no majority coalition, no speaker election.<\/p>\n
Edelstein also says that he\u2019s delaying the election in order to pressure Likud and Gantz\u2019s Blue and White into forming a unity government \u2014 one that is formed together by the country\u2019s two largest parties.<\/p>\n
Last week, Edelstein took the unusual step of suspending Knesset for five days. He said he was doing so to force negotiations toward a unity government.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have done, and am doing, everything so that a unity government will form and a fourth round of elections will be prevented,\u201d he wrote on Facebook. \u201cThe election of a speaker for the 23rd Knesset at this time, before a government is formed, will completely foreclose any chance of a broad unity government forming.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Edelstein\u2019s methods have sparked a fierce backlash. Blue and White has accused him and Netanyahu of an undemocratic power grab.<\/p>\n
\u201cAcross the globe, parliaments continue to function even in countries with thousands of infected people,\u201d Gantz tweeted on March 18. \u201cHere, Edelstein and Netanyahu decided to just burn the rulebook and erase Israeli democracy. We won\u2019t let that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is Blue and White trying to stop Edelstein?<\/strong>Blue and White, along with other political parties, petitioned the Supreme Court to weigh in on the issue. The court ruled against Edelstein, issuing a unanimous decision on Monday that he must hold elections for his own position by Wednesday while accusing him of harming Israel\u2019s democracy.<\/p>\n
Edelstein\u2019s refusal to allow the vote \u201cundermines the foundations of the democratic system,\u201d Chief Justice Esther Hayut wrote in the decision. \u201cIt significantly hurts the Knesset\u2019s standing as an independent authority as well as the transfer of power.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, will Edelstein hold the vote?<\/strong>Is there any way for the sides to compromise?<\/strong>Blue and White has been accusing Netanyahu and Likud of threatening Israeli democracy for some time. The main reason is that Netanyahu was indicted last year on charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust.<\/p>\n
The first prime minister to be indicted while in office, Netanyahu has vowed to fight the charges.<\/p>\n
His trial was set to begin last week, but was postponed in the name of social distancing amid the coronavirus crisis. For Blue and White, Edelstein\u2019s actions only strengthen the case that Netanyahu is trying to hang onto power at the expense of Israeli democracy.<\/p>\n
Blue and White took charge of key Knesset committees on Monday, and has floated passing a law barring anyone under indictment from serving as prime minister.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s tell the truth: You don\u2019t care about democracy anymore,\u201d Yair Lapid, Blue and White\u2019s deputy chair, said in a speech on the Knesset floor Monday, addressing Edelstein and Likud. \u201cThe prime minister understood that if there\u2019s a democracy here, he\u2019ll go to prison. So you decided that it\u2019s better for there not to be a democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Netanyahu\u2019s allies, meanwhile, have long complained that the Supreme Court is filled with liberal activist judges who subvert the will of the Knesset, the elected representatives of Israel\u2019s voters, by declaring right-wing laws unconstitutional. For them, Monday\u2019s court ruling only strengthened that case.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe court has officially taken over the Knesset,\u201d Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, a Likud lawmaker, wrote Monday on Facebook. \u201cAs of today, [it] has made the speaker of the Knesset a rubber stamp, while the judges of the Supreme Court control the Knesset. There isn\u2019t anything like that in any democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n
What does this have to do with the coronavirus?<\/strong>Thanks for the reminder<\/em>.<\/p>\nEdelstein, as well as Netanyahu, say that a unity government is especially urgent to give Israel all the tools to fight the scourge.<\/p>\n
\u201cBenny Gantz, this time is a test of leadership and national responsibility,\u201d Netanyahu tweeted Tuesday. \u201cThe citizens of Israel need a unity government that will act to save their lives and their livelihoods. This is not the time for fourth elections.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gantz also wrote on Facebook that he \u201cintends to consider all possible ways to establish a unity government that will fight the coronavirus and other challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n
The thing is that both men believe they should head the government, and neither is giving in.
So there\u2019s no playbook now. The court gave Edelstein a Wednesday deadline. It won\u2019t take long to see what happens.<\/p>\n
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