It's still not clear if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition has a Knesset majority for tomorrow's crucial vote on the gas agreement. In tomorrow's special session, convened during the recess, the Knesset will vote on two matters relating to the gas agreement - the agreement itself, and the transfer of Minister of Economy Aryeh Deri's powers to Netanyahu.
The coalition needs to pass both clauses because simply approving the agreement will have no meaning as Deri has said he has no intentions of himself using his powers to bypass the regulator. Deri would prefer to wait until a new regulator is appointed to succeed David Gilo and this could take several months. Therefore, Netanyahu and Deri have agreed that the Knesset will transfer the latter's powers on the matter, so that he won't carry sole responsibility for approving the agreement and by passing the antitrust regulator.
Three members of the coalition will abstain in the vote - Moshe Kahlon, Yoav Galant and Haim Katz due to conflict of interest - leaving the coalition without a majority. Opposition party Yisrael Beitenu has said it will support the gas agreement but not the transfer of Deri's powers, while the Joint Arab List will oppose the gas agreement but support the transfer of Deri's powers. This would leave the vote on Deri's powers tied at 54-54 and mean that the motion would not be passed. However, Netanyahu transferred NIS 900 million for projects in the Arab sector last week and as a quid pro quo at least one Joint Arab List MK is expected to abstain from the vote on Deri's powers so that they can be transferred.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 6, 2015
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