Netanyahu arrives at Knesset last-minute to vote on failing gov't tax bill

Itamar Ben-Gvir's party Otzma Yehudit voted against the bill, which saw Netanyahu leave the hospital for fear of the vote not passing.

By AMICHAI STEIN, ELIAV BREUER, JERUSALEM POST STAFF DECEMBER 31, 2024 14:35 Updated: DECEMBER 31, 2024 15:34

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ministers and MKs seen during a vote at the assembly hall of the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on December 31, 2024. (photo credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at Knesset on Tuesday afternoon after leaving Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem to vote for a government tax bill that is in danger of not passing.

The decision to leave was apparently against the advice of doctors, who recommended he stay at Hadassah Ein Kerem and continue to recover.

The government tax bill is a central government legislative proposal intended to generate over NIS 9 billion in national income from taxes. Both Otzma Yehudit and Agudat Yisrael threatened to vote against them, each for separate reasons. 

Calls to fire Ben-Gvir 

The opposition said that the bill needed to be brought to a vote by 3:00 p.m. in order for it to be valid for the 2025 budget. There were several calls to fire Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir because he brought Netanyahu from the hospital to the vote. 

Since the bill is a tax reform, for it to apply for 2025, it must pass into law before the end of 2024.

View of a plenum session at the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, August 5, 2024. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

If the bill does not pass in time, the government will face a significant gap in income for its 2025 budget, since the massive sum joins a second bill that will not pass on time, which was expected to generate over NIS 4b. in income.

In addition to Netanyahu, MK Boaz Bismuth of the Likud Party was forced to leave his mother's shiva for this vote.