BICOM

Strains appeared in Israeli government ranks yesterday after the coalition lost its first vote and a senior appointment for popular former Likud minister Moshe Kahlon was withdrawn after disagreement with Jewish Home leaders.

On Monday, the coalition failed to elect a representative to the committee which selects Supreme Court judges, following a secret Knesset ballot. By convention, one of the two Knesset representatives on the panel is a government legislator while the other is a representative of the opposition. However, the government’s proposed candidate, Yisrael Beitenu MK David Rotem was not elected this week and instead Labour MK Issac Herzog and Shas MK Yitzhak Cohen will sit on the committee. It has been widely reported that Likud MK and former-Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin campaigned against Rotem’s candidature. The defeat for the government just months into its’ current term contrasts with the previous government which did not lose a single vote during its time in office.

Meanwhile, yesterday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed former-Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon that he would not be able to take up the position of director of the Israel Lands Authority (ILA). Kahlon is widely credited with having reformed Israel’s mobile phone market and is hugely popular within the Likud Party. Just days before January’s election, Netanyahu announced that the ILA would be headed by Kahlon, who had decided to take a break from politics. Some commentators branded the appointment as a last-ditch bid for Likud votes.

However, the offer to Kahlon was withdrawn yesterday after Netanyahu told him “The results of the election do not allow us to implement all the plans we had.” Jewish Home head Naftali Bennett had insisted that the ILA remain under the control of Housing Minister Uri Ariel, a Jewish Home MK. It is thought that neither Kahlon nor Netanyahu were prepared to accept such an arrangement.