Haredi Parties Reject Eisenkot Bloc’s Plan to Replace Knesset Speaker
Haredi parties Shas and UTJ decline Gadi Eisenkot’s proposal to replace Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, stalling coalition talks in Israel during the new Knesset...
POLICY WIRE — Jerusalem, Israel — The Haredi parties Shas and United Torah Judaism declined to back Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party’s bid to replace Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, a move that could reshape power in the new legislature.
Eisenkot, who is spearheading coalition talks after the 24th Knesset’s swearing‑in on November 10, had sought Shas and UTJ support to secure a speaker from his own party.
Both Shas and UTJ rejected the invitation, arguing that the proposal would curtail their options for forming a government and would not guarantee sufficient Arab party backing for the speaker change.
The refusal leaves Eisenkot’s bloc scrambling for alternative strategies to oust the current speaker, a task that may depend on outreach to other opposition groups.
Earlier agreements within the bloc involving Avigdor Liberman and Yair Lapid now face the challenge of moving forward without Haredi participation.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)