A dramatic coalition showdown erupted in the Knesset on Wednesday evening just before the final vote on the government’s landmark judicial reform bill, after MK Moshe Gafni threatened to block the legislation unless funding issues affecting Chareidi preschool teachers were resolved. Following hours of behind-the-scenes negotiations, Gafni prevailed, clearing the way for the bill to move forward.

The legislation, championed by Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Constitution Committee Chairman MK Simcha Rothman, reached its final stages after roughly 70 committee meetings. However, moments before the decisive vote, the process came to an abrupt halt as Chareidi parties threatened to withhold their support, triggering a direct confrontation between Gafni and Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich.

As coalition leaders scrambled to prevent the bill’s collapse, Rothman deliberately prolonged his speech from the Knesset podium, buying time for intensive negotiations behind the scenes. Those talks ultimately ended with the coalition accepting Gafni’s demands.

At the heart of the dispute was growing frustration within United Torah Judaism, particularly from Gafni, over the government’s failure to approve promised seniority-based salary increases for Chareidi preschool teachers. UTJ accused Smotrich of intentionally delaying the funding and removing it from the government’s agenda in an effort to pressure the party politically, specifically to secure representation for his Religious Zionism Party in the municipal coalition in Beit Shemesh.

In response, UTJ informed coalition leaders that it would not support one of the government’s signature judicial reform measures, a move that would almost certainly have doomed the legislation.

Religious Zionism fired back with an unusually sharp public response. Associates of Smotrich argued that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara should “send flowers” to Gafni because, by threatening the bill, he was effectively preserving what they described as her judicial “dictatorship.”

Party officials also warned that if Gafni and his colleagues were responsible for defeating legislation intended to curb the attorney general’s authority, “they will not be able to show their faces in the Chareidi street,” adding bluntly, “they should not threaten us.”

Despite the heated rhetoric, Gafni’s political pressure ultimately succeeded. After marathon negotiations, Smotrich’s camp agreed that funding for the salary increases would remain on the government’s agenda, officially resolving the crisis.

The confrontation unfolded despite an earlier coalition agreement under which the Chareidi parties had pledged full support for the attorney general legislation as part of a broader package negotiated with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. In return, the coalition had advanced several key Chareidi-backed measures, including the Basic Law: Torah Study, the law freezing the arrests of draft evaders—which was later suspended by the High Court—and legislation repealing the kashrus reform.

Gafni’s last-minute threat briefly cast doubt over the entire agreement. Once the dispute over the preschool teachers’ funding was resolved, however, coalition unity was restored and the legislative package remained intact.

The legislation at the center of the dispute is designed to significantly reshape the relationship between Israel’s government and the attorney general. Its primary provision removes the binding status of the attorney general’s legal opinions, making them advisory rather than mandatory for ministers and the cabinet.

Under the proposal, the attorney general will continue serving as the government’s chief legal adviser, offering legal guidance and outlining available options while helping ensure compliance with the law. Final policy decisions, however, would remain with elected officials.

The bill further provides that while written legal opinions from the attorney general will reflect the government’s legal position, they will not themselves determine the law. The government will be permitted to conclude that an opinion does not accurately reflect existing law, provided it reports that determination to the Knesset Constitution Committee.

In addition, the legislation grants the government greater authority over its legal representation in the courts. If the attorney general declines to represent the government’s position, ministers will be authorized to retain private outside counsel to argue the government’s case. With the coalition crisis resolved, the legislation is now expected to proceed to a final vote.

{Matzav.com}