Coalition whip Idit Silman announced Wednesday morning she couldn’t support the unity government and called for forming a new right-wing government without holding fresh elections.
Silman said her pretext was a memo the minister of health sent to government hospitals a few days ago instructing them to uphold a High Court ruling allowing people to bring leavened foods into hospitals on Passover.
“I couldn’t allow it to harm Israel’s Jewish identity,” she said.
Behind the scenes: But this wasn’t the real reason, according to two political sources in the coalition, who said in recent weeks Silman faced pressure from her family and friends to leave the coalition.
Last month’s terror attacks and growing criticism by the settler lobby against the government for not giving building permits in settlements in the occupied West Bank heightened the pressure on Silman.
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