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Israeli parliament approves "super-coalition" deal

09 May 2012 22:50 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. In a 71-23 vote, Israel’s Knesset (parliament) on Wednesday voted in Kadima party chief Shaul Mofaz as vice prime minister in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The move brings the expanded coalition to 94 out of 120 lawmakers in the unicameral legislature.

Several Knesset members raised last-minute objections to the vote over concerns that the two had closed secret deals over ministerial roles Kadima would receive, over and above those detailed in the coalition agreement reached overnight Monday.

Rightist National Union lawmaker Uri Ariel asked for clarification if any specific accord was signed, according to The Jerusalem Post, with Labor Isaac Herzog then asking Netanyahu about any "oral agreements."

"Unfortunately, there is a great fear that the coalition agreement between Kadima and Likud as it was submitted on the Knesset table does not reveal all the agreements and understandings concerning appointments that were promised to the ( Kadima) faction," Ariel wrote to Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin.

"I brought this up because I was told, and I know that Kadima was promised (other) ministries," he wrote.

However, the prime minister responded that besides verbal discussions nothing was signed, adding that only written and signed documents were required at the session.

"In negotiations, there are talks about things that might happen in the future," Netanyahu said, according to the report, noting that "They also involved possibility of ministers."

Netanyahu said the public agreement "was the only agreement that was signed," according to Israel National News.

In a joint press conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Netanyahu and Mofaz said their partnership was a "historic" one that would enable them to address critical issues confronting the country.

"The state of Israel needs stability," Netanyahu said.

"The government’s big achievements to date is the result of a tight cooperation between parts of the coalition, but foremost of political stability," he said.

The prime minister added that "when it became clear that it’s possible to form a very wide government -- the widest in Israel’s history -- without going to (early) elections, I seized the opportunity."

Netanyahu praised Mofaz for his decision to join the government, saying that "together we will focus on four main issues: a fair and equal alternative to the Tal Law (which enables religious seminary students to defer mandatory military service); passing a responsible budget that will balance between the state’s security and social and economic needs; changing the system of governance; and promoting a responsible peace process (with the Palestinians) which will safeguard Israel’s security."

Mofaz, who has pledged to lead Israel’s second round of summer social protests following his victory in Kadima’s primary elections last month, said that "there are times in the life of a nation in which it is required to make significant decisions, and moments in a leader’s life in which he has to take decisions with personal significance."

But only 23 percent of the Israeli public believe that Netanyahu and Mofaz were driven by the national good, according to a poll conducted Tuesday by the Dialog Institute for the Ha’aretz daily.

According to the survey, Israelis are even more skeptical that the new government would carry out the main commitments outlined in the Likud-Kadima coalition agreement: endorsing legislation to impose compulsory military service on religious seminary students and changing the electoral system by the end of the year.

Half of respondents, 51 percent, said the government will not abide by its promise to draft the religiously observant, whereas 54 percent expressed disbelief that the current system of government would undergo structural changes until general elections are held in November 2013.