Bennett Gov't Already On Brink Following Defeat In Knesset Vote

The broad coalition gov't of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett suffered a damaging loss in a late-night Knesset vote on July 5, with the 59-59 vote (meaning defeat for the gov't) exposing the difficulties in uniting all members of the gov't behind the prime minister's agenda.

• The vote was intended to extend a controversial citizenship law (the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law) which bars Palestinians from the West Bank or Gaza who marry Israelis from moving to Israeli. The law's provisions require annual renewal. Having failed to get this approval, the provisions of the law will cease to apply from midnight tonight.
• While former PM Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party consistently voted to continue the provision of the law during his time in power, last night Likud and its allies voted against the renewal of the law. Netanyahu stated that the reasoning behind this was that, "With all due respect for this law, the importance of toppling the government is greater. This isn't just a law. It's a law that exposes the fault line in this government, whose purpose is to advance an anti-Zionist agenda."
• The divisions in the gov't were evident in the vote, with two MKs from the Islamist Ra'am party abstaining, and one MK from Bennett's own right-wing Zionist Yamina party voting against the gov't.
• The continuation of the Bennett gov't remains a difficult prospect given the huge differences of opinion within the coalition (involving Islamists, right-wing Zionists, greens, social democrats, and conservatives), combined with the razor-thin majority for the gov't in the Knesset (61 to 59 should all MKs vote).