Free Republic

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is suddenly the favorite to mount a comeback after current Prime Minister Naftali Bennett lost the majority he needs to hold his coalition together with a key defection on Wednesday. Israel’s government looked set to crumble Wednesday after coalition whip Idit Silman announced she is quitting to form a new government, causing the ruling coalition headed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to lose its majority. … Silman, who is a member of Knesset in Bennett’s Yamina party, chose to defect after she clashed with Israel’s Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz over his order to hospitals...

JERUSALEM - A key member of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's Yamina party said Wednesday she was quitting his coalition government, in a surprise move that leaves him without a parliamentary majority. Idit Silman's announcement left Bennett's coalition, an alliance of parties ranging from the Jewish right and Israeli doves to an Arab Muslim party, with 60 seats -- the same as the opposition. Although Silman's defection does not mean the fall of the coalition, it raises the spectre of a potential return to office by veteran leader Benjamin Netanyahu, less than a year after he lost the premiership to...

From the words of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with reference to the political drama in the Knesset: On Passover we celebrate the Exodus of Israel from Egypt to the Land of Israel, the Promised Land. Today we are happy for a similar reason, and congratulate MK Idit Silman for making the right decision. We all receive her with a warm embrace and open arms. Idit returned home - to the right, to the national camp. There is a weak and limping government in Israel today. Its days are few. I hereby call on other members of the coalition whose...