Netanyahu government faces vote of no confidence over hostage issue

Israel’s Labor Party announced on Wednesday that it is going to submit a proposal to the Knesset for a vote of no confidence in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government due to its inability to return hostages from the Gaza Strip.

“Our daughters and sons have been held captive by Hamas for 103 days,” it said on X. “103 days that the State of Israel is torn between Israel and Gaza. And the government doesn’t care at all.”

In another post the party said: “They don’t have time. We do not have time. And there is no trust in the government that does not do everything to return them. There is no trust in a government that does not put the kidnapped as a priority. A government that cares about its own corrupt interests and not those who give their lives for it.” It ended by saying, “This is a government that cannot be trusted, it should be overthrown.”

The Labor Party has 4 out of 120 seats in the Knesset, and is headed by Merav Michaeli, a former Minister of Transportation.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Yesh Atid party, which has 24 seats in the Knesset and is headed by opposition leader Yair Lapid, announced that it had submitted a motion of no confidence in the government in objection to the budget approved by the government on Thursday. “This government cannot continue to exist. It is a failure that costs people’s lives and the future of the country.”

The no confidence process requires a majority of at least 61 Knesset members to back the proposal. The government coalition, led by Netanyahu, has a majority of 64 seats in the Knesset, which makes it unlikely that the opposition will win the vote.

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