Netanyahu Has Week To Find Majority, Prevent Israeli Elections

Orbach, who is a religious Zionist and had been a member of Yamina, abandoned the coalition on June 13, saying he wouldn’t return until regulations that placed residents of Judea and Samaria under Israel’s legal system were passed. The regulations were set to expire and the inability of the government to renew them, which reportedly would have meant hardship and even “chaos” for Jews living in those areas, was cited by Bennett as the main reason he decided to dismantle his government.

Orbach was reportedly in talks to join the Likud. It was generally assumed that he would have received a reserved spot on the party’s list going into the next elections in return for voting to bring down the government.

“He’s really a tragic figure,” said Sandler. “He held all the cards. But with Bennett and Lapid’s move, he lost his bargaining power.”

Bennett and Lapid were reportedly worried enough about the possibility of a blocking move by Orbach to push up the vote on a dissolution bill to June 22 with Knesset members Boaz Toporovsky and Sharren Haskel tabling the bill on Monday night.

Shpaizman dismissed as overstated reports concerning Orbach’s ability to stop or delay the bill.

“The coalition could remove him from the House Committee,” she said. “He could hold it up maybe for a day, but not anything permanent.”

“They’re planning to start the vote on Wednesday. As the coalition is not going to get the bill done in one day, and the Knesset only meets Monday through Wednesday, the final vote will be next week, Monday or perhaps Tuesday,” she said. “Netanyahu basically has a week.”