Tibi Pledges to Eisenkot to Back Replacing Knesset Speaker

Joint List MK Ahmad Tibi has given Gadi Eisenkot a set of commitments on cooperation in the Knesset, including a pledge to vote in favor of replacing the Knesset Speaker, Amit Segal reported.

Tibi's pledges go beyond the speakership vote. He committed not to back any no-confidence motion brought by Likud. He also promised that he would not initiate legislation to dissolve the Knesset.

The speakership has been the opposition's first target since the election. On October 28, Yashar party leader Eisenkot, Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman and Beyachad chairman Naftali Bennett were in talks on a coordinated bid to replace Speaker Amir Ohana before a new government is formed. The move requires 61 MKs, a majority that depends on lawmakers from the Arab parties. Tibi declared at the time: "We will vote to bring him down."

The plan rests on a 2020 High Court ruling. Under that ruling, if 61 MKs demand a vote on electing a new Knesset Speaker, the vote must be held even before a government is formed.

Arab MKs (Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Neither bloc won the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-member Knesset in the October 27 election. Netanyahu's bloc held 53 seats, the change bloc 48 and the Arab parties 19.

Tibi's position in the post-election maneuvering has already drawn fire within the anti-Netanyahu camp. On October 29, Liberman ruled out joining a coalition with either Netanyahu or Tibi.

On October 31, Eisenkot declared that he would work to form Israel's next government. "In the State of Israel, it is the Knesset that grants confidence to the government, not the other way around," he stated.

The speakership fight has also stirred alarm. On October 29, Haaretz political analyst Yossi Verter wrote that the outgoing coalition would not allow the opposition to elect a new speaker. "We are close to civil war. The script is written in advance," Verter warned.