Tel Aviv [Israel], January 5: Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir issued an apology on Saturday night for pressuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to leave the hospital early to participate in a Knesset vote on Tuesday. Ben-Gvir also expressed regret for forcing Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, who was in the midst of a week of mourning for his mother, to interrupt his mourning period to cast his vote.
“I did some soul-searching over Shabbat and realized I was wrong when I saw the Prime Minister and Boaz in the plenum without any offsetting,” Ben-Gvir said. “I apologize to the Prime Minister and my friend Boaz Bismuth. From now on, we will ensure the Prime Minister is offset until he fully recovers, God willing.”
The term “offsetting” refers to a procedural practice in the Knesset where a member’s absence is balanced by an agreement with an opposing member to abstain from voting, ensuring no unfair impact on the vote outcome.
Netanyahu, who was recovering from prostate surgery, left Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital against his doctors’ advice to attend the vote. He was accompanied by his personal physician and was seen wearing a hospital bracelet. Netanyahu was discharged on Thursday, and his lawyers later requested a two-week delay in his corruption trial, citing the doctor’s recommendation for two weeks of rest.
The vote in question, on the “Trapped Profits Law,” allows the government to tax “trapped profits” — earnings retained by corporations for reinvestment. The law passed narrowly by 59-58. Had the bill failed, it could have jeopardized the approval of the state budget or created a potential 10-billion-shekel deficit ($2.74 billion). According to Israeli law, the Knesset must pass a budget by March 31, or the government would automatically fall, leading to national elections.
The bill faced opposition within the coalition, with eight members voting against it, including five from Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party and three from the United Torah Judaism party. Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party has been advocating for an increased budget for the police, prison services, and firefighting agencies, while the United Torah Judaism party is pushing for exemptions for Orthodox Jewish citizens from military service.