Bennett and Netanyahu
Photo: Alex Kolmoisky, Yair Sagi
Netanyahu, Bennett lock horns over mutually stalled legislation
Likud blocks Bayit Yehudi bill to incorporate Ariel University, other Israeli West Bank academic institutions into the Council for Higher Education, while Bayit Yehudi refuses to support bill on shared custody over young children.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Education Minister Naftali Bennett clashed Sunday over the Likud's refusal to support legislation seeking to incorporate Israeli West Bank academic institutions into the Council for Higher Education.
Earlier in the day, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked decided to stop discussions at the Ministerial Committee for Legislation over Likud MK Yoav Kisch's refusal to support what is dubbed as the "Ariel University bill," which is sponsored by Shaked and Bennett's fellow Bayit Yehudi party member Shuli Mualem-Refaeli.
In a tit-for-tat, Kisch declined to support the Bayit Yehudi legislation after Mualem-Refaeli refused to throw his weight behind his own bill proposal, which seeks to determine that upon separation or divorce, mothers would enjoy automatic sole custody over their children only until the age of two, following which the two parents would share custody.
Bennett and Netanyahu at the Knesset (צילום: אלכס קולומויסקי)
Kisch's bill has become one of the more problematic pieces of legislation in the coalition, with Likud and Bayit Yehudi unable to agree on it.
During a coalition party leaders' meeting on Sunday, Bennett told the prime minister that the Ariel University bill "is a very important bill that needs to be passed, and you've been delaying it for three weeks. This is not a symbolic bill."
"Don't preach to me about Ariel University, we built it," Netanyahu fired back.
The prime minister then demanded Bennett to resume discussions at the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, yelling "You're bound by coalition discipline."
"We're the most disciplined faction in the coalition," Bennett responded.
The Likud Party said in response that "During the coalition party leaders' meeting, Prime Minister Netanyahu unequivocally stated he supports the Ariel University bill and will work to pass it as soon as possible. The prime minister commented that the argument was unnecessary because in a week's time, MK Miki Zohar will begin his role (as the chairman of the Knesset's House Committee) and pass the bill, so any attempt to create a confrontation on the matter at the coalition party leaders' meeting was artificial, unnecessary and meant solely to make headlines.
"The comments made to Minister Bennett were in response to the unnecessary and childish insistence over a decision that has already been made. The prime minister, who helped Ariel college become a university, does not need to be preached to or encouraged to support applying the Council for Higher Education Law on it."
