Play store
Israeli opposition parties have reached an agreement on key parliamentary positions as part of efforts to remove Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government from power.
In a joint statement on Tuesday, opposition leaders agreed to nominate former minister Matan Kahana as the next speaker of the Knesset, while Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the Yisrael Beytenu party, will head the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee.
The agreement was reached among Gadi Eisenkot of the Yashar Party, Lieberman, Naftali Bennett of the Together alliance, Yair Golan of the Democrats and opposition leader Yair Lapid, according to The Times of Israel.
Kahana, fifth on Eisenkot’s Yashar Party list, was selected for the speaker’s position following several days of negotiations.
Newly elected MP Liran Avishar Ben-Horin of the Together alliance will chair the Finance Committee.
The opposition leaders said the composition of parliamentary committees would be finalised this week, with the proposals scheduled to be submitted to the Knesset for approval on Wednesday.
The agreement came ahead of the swearing-in of members of Israel’s 26th Knesset on Tuesday. The opposition wants to replace incumbent Speaker Amir Ohana, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party.
Ohana has said he will schedule a debate within a week if a majority of lawmakers formally demand the election of a new speaker. However, the opposition currently lacks the 61 votes required to replace him. The four-party alliance led by Eisenkot controls 48 of the Knesset’s 120 seats.
Meanwhile, President Isaac Herzog formally tasked Eisenkot with forming a government on Sunday after he received recommendations from 67 lawmakers, compared with 46 who backed Netanyahu.
Eisenkot has 28 days to form a government, with a possible 14-day extension.
