Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering a postponement in the Knesset vote on transferring powers on natural gas to the cabinet, in view of the difficulty of achieving a majority for the measure. Another possibility under consideration by Netanyahu and his aides is making the vote one of no confidence, so that ministers Moshe Kahlon, Yoav Galant, and Haim Katz, who are not planning on voting today, will have to support the proposal because they are part of the coalition. Sources close to Katz said of the vote, "Even if he is not paired off in the vote, and even if the government plan is defeated, and even if the plan would make a regional peace agreement possible, Katz will not vote in favor of the natural gas plan today."
Yesterday, Netanyahu hoped that a majority could be formed with the support of Yisrael Beitenu, but Yisrael Beitenu chairman Avigdor Liberman changed his mind overnight, and announced today that his faction would not support the measure in the Knesset vote. Liberman's associates said that while the faction supports the natural gas plan, he intends to be a militant opposition, and because the vote concerned a technical matter, not the plan itself, he did not intend to help Netanyahu maintain his government.
In the absence of support from Yisrael Beitenu's six MKs, the coalition lacks a majority, and the measure will fall. If the matter is brought to a vote today and the Knesset rejects the proposal, the ball will bounce back to Shas chairman MK Aryeh Deri, who as Minister of the Economy will have to decide the matter.
Minister of Defense Moshe Ya'alon today called on Kahlon, Galant, and Katz to take part in the Knesset vote. In a briefing for political reporters, Ya'alon commented on the natural gas plan for the first time, saying, "The fact that we have become a gas producing country has changed our status more than a little. Cyprus and Greece want to do deals with us for their own reasons, and even Turkey may sober up because it wants to make a gas deal with us, not with the Russians."
The opposition factions stepped up their criticism of the expected vote today. Zionist Union chairman MK Isaac Herzog said, "Netanyahu is hiding the Israel's public's gas in the dark, far from its sight, wallet, and the ensuring of its future. We've had enough of rumors and partial reports. What are Netanyahu and the government afraid of? If the secret plan is so good, the public will support it."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 29, 2015
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