Newly elected Jewish Agency chief Isaac Herzog on Monday beneficial that Zionist Union No. 2, MK Tzipi Livni, replace him as the Knesset’s opposition leader.
In an interview with Israel Radio, Herzog, who will relinquish his Knesset seat earlier than he assumes management of the Jewish Agency later this summer season, mentioned former international minister Livni ought to take over his parliamentary position, citing a rotation deal the 2 inked forward of the 2015 elections.
When her Hatnua party merged with Herzog’s Labor Party to type the Zionist Union slate, Livni had initially agreed to a two-year rotation of the premiership if the Zionist Union was tasked with forming the coalition. However, 12 hours earlier than the 2015 election, she introduced she would forgo the premiership rotation.
Herzog’s suggestion is controversial as Hatnua at the moment holds solely 5 of the Zionist Union’s 24 Knesset seats.
In most circumstances, the leader of the biggest Knesset opposition party is the opposition leader however Avi Gabbay, who received the helm of the Labor party away from Herzog in 2017, can't tackle the place as he's not at the moment a member of the Knesset.
Gabbay started holding discussions Monday to determine on the following opposition leader. As said by Channel 10, along with Livni, former Labor leaders Shelly Yachimovich and Amir Peretz are additionally into account for the place.
Gabbay is tasked with deciding on a sitting Knesset member for the senior position and submitting the request to the Knesset speaker. The alternative leader should then obtain the backing of over half of the 54 opposition Knesset members.
On Sunday, the Jewish Agency’s Board of Governors unanimously elected Herzog, a former cupboard minister and present leader of the opposition, to succeed Nathan Sharansky as its chairman of its government.
In the radio interview Monday, Herzog mentioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had needed his confidant Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz to take the place, has not but phoned to congratulate him.
Outgoing Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky (proper) and Chairman-elect MK Isaac Herzog following Herzog’s election on the Jewish Agency Board of Governors’ conferences in Jerusalem, June 24, 2018. (Nir Kafri for The Jewish Agency for Israel/courtesy)
Herzog additionally made an enchantment to the Israeli authorities and non secular authorities to ease the conversion to Judaism course of.
Two of the most important points widening the rift between the communities have been entry for non-Orthodox streams of Judaism to the Western Wall and the refusal of the Israel rabbinate to acknowledge many conversions carried out by US rabbis.
“We have to make it possible for anyone who wants to be Jewish to join easily,” he mentioned. “As [the biblical] Ruth said, ‘Your people is my people and your homeland is my homeland.” Herzog was subsequently referred to as out on social media for the misquotation — there is no such thing as a reference to homeland within the verse — and for leaving out the important thing phrase, “Your God is my God.”
In his acceptance speech on Sunday, Herzog, whose grandfather Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog was a chief rabbi of Israel, additionally pressured that every one Jews needs to be accepted by the State of Israel.
“We have to strengthen the centrality of Israel within the heart of every Jew, especially the young generations; to fight BDS [the anti-Israel Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement], to educate, to connect and to promote aliyah [immigration], and to bring more and more Jews to Israel,” Herzog added.
“A Jew is a Jew is a Jew, and it doesn’t matter to what stream he belongs to or what he wears on his head,” Herzog went on. “We are all one people, and this is what we need to do to preserve and foster the great story of the Jews, and the great story of the State of Israel being the pumping heart of the Jewish people.”
Outgoing Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky is to step down subsequent month after 9 years within the place.