I worked as an intern this summer with MK Alon Tal, a member of the Blue and White party, because of my interest in his work on climate policy and religious pluralism in Israel. I had heard about his impressive collaboration with coalition and opposition MKs towards a sustainable environmental policy. I admired the way Tal communicates the necessity of sustainable policy to mobilize other politicians and committees, building strong collaborations for environmental protection.
Working with Tal, I gained appreciation for what he describes as the “strong center” of the Blue and White political platform. I edited and designed the monthly Sustainable Israeli Politics Newsletter, translated Hebrew media, compiled English press releases, organized speaking events and completed legislative research for bill proposals.
As it turned out, I also had the incredible opportunity to witness the dissolution of Israel’s 24th Knesset from inside the halls and offices of Israeli government.
In late June, Israel’s citizens were anticipating the dispersal of the government. This was an unlikely government from the beginning, the first in the history of Israel with an Arab majority party in the coalition and a tricky partnership between right and left parties. There was much uncertainty as to whether the government would even last a month, but in March, the country celebrated one full year without elections. This unexpected stability did not last for much longer, as the Knesset entered a dramatic journey toward dispersal on June 20, 2022. Amid aggressive negotiations on the legislative agenda, heated debates in the Knesset house committee and on the Plenum Floor, and speculation on the political maneuverings of the coalition and the opposition, the Knesset dispersal bill came to pass on June 30.
Despite the mounting expectations in the week leading up to it, the news of the Israeli Parliamentary coalition’s dispersal was a surprise to many. For the general population who had been witnessing the slow defection of one MK after another from the coalition, it was not a shock. For the staff of the Knesset, whose halls had been abuzz with speculations of the coalition dispersal the Wednesday before the announcement, it was certainly not a surprise. The coalition no longer had a majority in the government due to the defection of MKs who had crossed the aisle to vote with the opposition. However, the way in which the dispersal occurred was not quite as expected.
On Monday, June 20 at 8 p.m., in a move in spite of the defection that was expected to bring down the government and because of it, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Prime Minister Naftali Bennettt jointly announced that the coalition would introduce a bill to dissolve itself. However, due to the coalition’s lack of a majority, the dispersal bill would require both coalition and opposition support to pass. The first reading and vote on this bill would not occur until a week later.
Initially, the opposition stalled the dispersal bill, endeavoring to form an alternate government led by Likud and its leader, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This would have involved passing a no-confidence vote for the current coalition, which would require holding a majority in the Knesset Plenum that the opposition did not have. Thus, as the coalition and opposition struggled amongst themselves, they realized that they would need each other to achieve their goals—and thus the negotiations ensued.
The next Monday, the halls of the Knesset were packed. Reporters and news stations had made a permanent camp in the press hall outside the prime minister’s office. Yeshiva students, coastal near-retirees, couples and others crowded into the Knesset observation deck, all chatting as MKs successively addressed a nearly empty Plenum floor. The public outnumbered the politicians present on the Plenum floor. Suddenly, the coalition side of the Plenum swelled with MKs shaking hands, chatting and smiling at one another. Bennett and Lapid had made an appearance, and were sitting on the wall in a photo op that we all knew would be plastered at the top of the news articles that evening. But still, no bill to dissolve the government was introduced. The air in the observation deck was filled with resignation as the plenum declared a recess.
That night, in the early hours of Tuesday, the Knesset reached an agreement on the dispersal bill and passed it in an initial reading. The coalition and opposition agreed to pass the first draft of the dissolution bill, as well as a bill to increase the budget of the Disabilities Administration and a bill offering compensation to businesses that had suffered during the surge of the coronavirus omicron variant. However, much of the remaining legislative decisions were still in negotiation with the coalition-backed Metro Law and the date of the election was unresolved.
On Wednesday morning, the building was full of anticipation again. It was expected that the government would dissolve that night. After weeks of solemn anticipation in both the coalition and opposition camps, the mood resembled that of a holiday. But as the afternoon bore on with no progress towards the second vote on the dispersal bill, skepticism and speculations grew.
While ministers and MKs marched through the halls, the press waited eagerly for news, and I took a tour of the Knesset with a group of political aides, rumors were flying. Some said that the opposition was delaying the dispersal bill until the following week. Some said that the opposition was retracting its support from the bill altogether, and would try to form a surprise alternate government. People were speculating whether, if Bennett stepped down from his position of party leader before the dispersal bill vote, his successor would lead Yamina to join an alternate government with the Likud.
With the majority of the opposition not even in the building, at 9 p.m. on Wednesday night, a vote on the dispersal bill seemed unlikely. A wary exhaustion descended over the Knesset, interrupted only by Bennett’s farewell address, in which he announced that he would not be running with his party, Yamina, in upcoming elections. His announcement was met by admiration from coalition party members and cabinet ministers, and with criticism and derision from defector MK Amichai Chickli and members of the opposition.
The deadlock and fierce negotiation over the details of the legislative agenda before the passing of the dispersal bill highlighted the intense bargaining integral to Israeli politics. However, as Bennett said in his national farewell address, this
passionate negotiation must be tempered by acceptance. “Every group in Israel will sometimes be in the coalition, and sometimes be in the opposition. We must learn to accept this. This is the correct order of things.”
Finally, on Thursday morning, the dispersal bill passed its final vote and elections were called for November 1. While votes will continue in the coming weeks and the work of MKs is far from done, the government has begun its transition from legislative political struggle to campaign mode. Despite the strain of campaigning in the months to come, the government met the news of dispersal with relief and acceptance.
On Thursday afternoon, the streets of Jerusalem’s center were calmly bustling. The country had been placed on track for fall elections, the fifth to be held since 2018. However, you could not tell that the central executive government had fallen from looking at the capital city. The “Government of Change” had dissolved, but there was no sense of panic. The buses continued to wind through the streets as people shopped for Shabbat and parents strained to push strollers up hills. The journey of Israeli democracy continues to run its course.
A graduate of Atlanta Jewish Academy High School, Leah Bader is in her senior year at Emory University in Atlanta, studying political science and Arabic. Following graduation, Leah looks forward to moving to Israel and continuing to study and work in Middle Eastern politics.
