Knesset committee meetings cancelled as coalition tensions rise

MK Zvika Fogel, who chairs the Knesset's National Security Committee. and Limor Sonn Har Melech, who chairs the Committee for Oversight of the Israeli Citizens' Fund, cancelled their respective committees' meetings for the rest of the week.

Fogel said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has not implemented a "fully right-wing" national security policy.

The boycott spilt over to the Knesset's Finance Committee, where Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kreuzer absented himself from votes related to the state budget. The Finance Committee is chaired by United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni and its meetings are continuing.

Otzma Yehudit is boycotting Cabinet meetings and Knesset votes in protest against Israel releasing Imad al-Adwan, a Jordanian lawmaker caught trying to smuggle weapons to Palestinians, and the return of the bodies of three Palestinian terrorists. The party has also been sharply critical of the government's handling of recent rocket fire from Gaza.

Party leader and Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir and two other ministers from Otzma Yehudit boycotted Sunday's weekly Cabinet meeting.

Ben-Gvir also threatened to boycott Knesset votes over what he said was the government's "weak response" to Palestinian terror groups firing rockets following the death of Khader Adnan, a senior figure in Palestinian Islamic Jihad who had been on a hunger strike. Netanyahu's Likud party responded to that by saying Ben-Gvir was welcome to quit.

The Otzma Yehudit party has six seats in the 120-seat Knesset. Should the boycott continue, the governing coalition will have a slim 58-56 parliamentary majority.

Despite national demonstrations for and against a controversial judicial overhaul initiative, the government's priority has pivoted to passing a state budget. Failure to pass a budget by May 29 will automatically dissolve the Knesset and send Israel to its sixth election in under four years.

Israel often holds the bodies of Palestinian terrorists to deter celebratory and inciting funerals, and to hold them as bargaining chips for Israelis held by Palestinians. Hamas has been holding Avraham Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed in Gaza since 2014 and 2015 respectively.

Hamas also holds the bodies of Israeli soldiers Lt. Hadar Goldin and Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul, who were both killed on August 1, 2014, while fighting in Gaza.

The Palestinian Authority confirmed on Friday it had received the bodies of Jihad Shami and Mohammed Dabiq, members of the Lions Den terror group killed after opening fire on soldiers on March 12. The body of a third terrorist, Sharif Hassan Rabaa, was released on Sunday morning. Raaba was killed while trying to stab soldiers on February 9.

Those releases were approved by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Adwan, a Jordanian parliamentarian, was caught by Israeli authorities in April with 12 rifles and 194 pistols in his car while travelling on a diplomatic passport. He was returned amid heavy Jordanian pressure. Israel apparently received assurances from Amman that the 35-year-old lawmaker would be prosecuted and serve out a prison term in Jordan. (ANI/TPS)