Bennett Could Resign as Alternate PM after Elections
According to the latest reports, Naftali Bennett is thinking about resigning from his role of alternate prime minister after the elections in Israel on November 1st.
This would mean that Prime Minister Yair Lapid would be left fully in control of the interim government until a new one is formed.
The media reports indicated that Bennett, who had decided not to run for reelection, could step down even before a new government has been sworn in.
The reason
As per the reports, the reason that Bennett may have decided to make this move was because of a legal opinion that he had received.
This indicated that he the former prime minister would not be able to serve in the role of alternate premier after the election because he would no longer be a member of the Knesset.
However, it was also reported that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, was looking into the matter and there was a possibility that the ruling could allow Bennett to continue with his role.
Some people have also said that Bennett himself might be eager to quit the role because of the increasing discomfort with the policies of the Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
The agreement
There is a power-sharing agreement between Lapid and Bennett in which the alternate prime minister has the veto power over the decisions of the prime minister.
If he decides to leave his role, it would mean that the right-wing bloc of the government would lose their veto power.
This would be in favor of Lapid because he would be in full control of the caretaker government and he would be able to do no as long as a new government is not inaugurated.
There was no response from Bennett’s office on Saturday about the matter. All they said that he would continue to serve in his role of alternate prime minister until the elections.
They said that he would decide his future according to the circumstances after that.
Other decisions
When Bennett announced that he would not be running for reelection and would be taking a break from politics, he also resigned from his position of the leader of the Yamina party.
He handed the party leadership to Ayelet Shaked, the Interior Minister. She has mostly dismantled the party since then and is now conducting the campaign on behalf of the Jewish Home party.
On Saturday, Shaked said that if Bennett was to resign from his role of alternate prime minister and there was not a government in place, then she should get the veto.
She stated that this was to ensure that the left was not left in complete control of the government. Her office said that their priority was to preserve the veto.
It remained unclear if it was possible for such a transfer of powers to take place legally. It should also be noted that Shaked could also be out of the Knesset after the November 1st elections.
This is because her party is currently below the electoral threshold. Since the government collapsed, she has distanced herself from the coalition and is willing to support Netanyahu as premier.
