Knesset defeats opposition bill to bar Netanyahu from premiership
By a vote of 73 to 53, Israel’s parliament threw out the bill tabled by opposition leader Yair Lapid to disqualify an indicted lawmaker from leading a government. The bill targeted Binyamin Netanyahu who is on trial on three corruption counts. After the vote, Netanyahu took the podium to accuse Lapid of attempting to override the voter’s will. Unlike in dark dictatorships such as Iran, in the world’s democracies, the people alone determine who governs them, and indictment is no cause for ousting a prime minister. A stormy debate between the prime minister and rowdy heckling followed the bill’s defeat.
DEBKAfile: This vote was one of two Knesset measures on Wednesday, including the bill for extra time to present the budget, which have given the coalition government on the brink of falling an extra lease of life and a chance to overcome the bitter disputes dividing the two ruling parties.