Returning to the Knesset: Religious Zionist Chairman and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich will return to serve as a member of the Knesset this Sunday - in order to ensure a majority in the vote on the budget.
Smotrich will return to the Knesset in order to remove MK Yitzhak Kreuzer from Otzma Yehudit, due to Itamar Ben-Gvir's party's intention to vote against the budget.
Following the move, the coalition is expected to have a majority of 60 supporters of the budget against 59 opponents.
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The coalition has been in talks with Otzma Yehudit in recent days with the aim of preventing party members from opposing the budget vote. However, since the talks were unsuccessful, Smotrich will return to the Knesset and remove the "Norwegian" cruiser from it, with the resignation of the Minister of Finance from the government.
The coalition must pass the state budget by March 31. If the budget is not approved by this date, the Knesset will be automatically dissolved, and new elections will be held within 90 days.
The withdrawal of Otzma Yehudit from the government greatly reduced the coalition. The threats by half of the Agoyi faction to vote against, because of the conscription law, also resulted in a narrow majority.
Those around Almog Cohen say: The MK has risked his life many times for the country, if necessary he will sacrifice his political future for the sake of stability, for our heroic soldiers, and for the challenges facing the State of Israel. The kingdom is always above him.
Media figure Yinon Magal responded: "If Ben Gvir votes against the budget and the government falls, it will be remembered as a disgrace to the world.".
As you may recall, immediately after Ben-Gvir resigned from the government and the return of Otzma Yehudit ministers to serve as members of Knesset, MK Zvi Sukkot from Smotrich's party was pushed out of the Knesset due to his being a Norwegian MK.
Now Smotrich is making a move in which he will return a missing MK to the coalition and his faction in the Knesset.
A few weeks ago, Smotrich explained that he tried to prevent the move: "I suggested to Ben Gvir that I stay out of the Knesset and that Kreuzer enter in my place, as long as he does not vote against the coalition, but Itamar does not want to.".
