Israel is likely to move on to another round of national elections, its fifth in three and a half years, after lawmakers passed the first reading of a bill to dissolve Israel’s 24th Knesset in the early hours of Tuesday. The Knesset bill is expected to pass its final readings by midnight Wednesday. Transport Minister Merab Michael spent Tuesday working to persuade the Arab-majority Joint List party, part of the opposition, to support the so-called Metro Law and watch it pass, according to Jewish media reports. The metro law will provide oversight and funding for a new metro system being built in central Israel. half of the network has already been approved. Until this week, members of the Knesset have been relatively united behind the project, which aims to solve Israel’s traffic problems in the long run by removing cars from the streets and helping those on the move. Get the Times of Israel Daily E-mail and never miss our top stories By registering, you agree to the terms The project is Israel’s most ambitious infrastructure project, aiming to connect Tel Aviv’s transportation zones to substantially reduce traffic. But as it runs through large areas that are already densely populated, it is potentially one of the world’s most complex engineering projects. Other subway systems were built before urban areas and not after. Likud had previously backed the bill, but it was one of the bills that fell by the wayside under opposition-coalition agreements on Monday. Lawmakers spent the day discussing issues such as the date of the next election – the opposition prefers October 25th while the coalition would like to set November 1st, a week later, as voting day – and which legislation will be passed before parliament is dissolved. . It was agreed that a bill banning the formation of a government on a person accused – like former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – would not go ahead either. And Likud signaled that it was planning to vote against a pair of bills that are crucial to allowing Israel to join the US Visa Waiver Program. This is done to stop the coalition from trying to promote the very popular initiative on the eve of the election period. The Visa Waiver Program allows citizens of participating countries to visit the United States without applying for a visa, which takes time and money and is by no means guaranteed. The empty assembly hall of the Israeli Knesset, in Jerusalem, on June 27, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi / Flash90) According to Kan, the opposition prefers October 25, when Yeshiva students – key voters of the Likud bloc, which is made up in part of pro-Orthodox parties – are on holiday. But as of Tuesday afternoon, a majority of Knesset members tended to decide on November 1, Kan said. Earlier on Tuesday, the US ambassador made a rare appeal to Israeli lawmakers to support visa-related legislation, and the embassy contacted a senior Likud MK official, Yariv Levin, urging the opposition party not to oppose the law. . In the clearest indication that Likud also restricted the Metro Act to secure its preferred electoral program, the party’s Joab Keys told the Knesset on Tuesday, according to Khan: “I tell you in the simplest way, the election date is important. We want an achievement. If you want the subway, I’m willing to convince you [the Likud] and tell it about [the election date]we will [finalize] the subway. “ According to the metro plan, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) of route and 31 stations will connect Tel Aviv, Rehovot, Ness Ziona, Lod, Be’er Yaakov, Rishon Lezion, Holon and Ramat Hasharon , for a line called M1 South. . Another line, the M3, would deliver 39 kilometers of 25 stations, connecting Bat Yam, Holon, Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Petah Tikva and Or Yehuda. There is no expectation that passengers will be able to travel on these routes by 2032 at the earliest. Transport Minister Merav Michaeli visits the new Allenby red line metro station in Tel Aviv, 23 June 2022. (Avshalom Sassoni / Flash90) As previously reported by the Times of Israel, a further northern part of the proposed network has caused difficulties that would push the links with Modi’in, Ra’anana, Kfar Saba and Hod Hasharon at least until 2040. According to Kan, Michaeli promised in the Joint List on Tuesday that she would support the construction of a subway line in an Arab-majority area known as Triangle, which consists of cities such as Taybe, Tira and Kafr Qasim. But Likud, as the leading opposition party, refused to put the law up for debate. Michaeli said on Twitter that it would be up to the opposition to explain its reasoning and “they should be held accountable because the national project that can help us get out of the traffic jam has stopped due to micropolitics”. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also took to Twitter on Monday to beg the opposition not to repeal the Metro law. “Do not deny Israel a metro that is so necessary. Israel is a modern country that does not have a subway like in New York, Paris or London. That is why we suffer from endless traffic jams. “There is no Right or Left here,” he wrote. “If the law is not passed, it will be postponed for many years and all our children will pay the price,” he added. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid speak during a debate in the Knesset on June 27, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi / Flash90) Until this week, the legislation was considered cross-party, as the metro is considered a key element in developing efficient public transport systems. So far, the 2022 national budget has allocated NIS 6 billion ($ 1.8 billion) for the construction of the metro system. The total cost of the project is estimated by the Bank of Israel at NIS 150 billion ($ 43 billion). Half of it is expected to come from the regular state budget and the other half from still “non-budgetary sources”, with most of the money required between 2026 and 2036. There is already a plan that the municipalities that will be connected to the metro are expected to start contributing funds for the cost of the project from next year and that property owners near the lines will also have to face higher taxes to reflect the benefits they have will result from this. Carrie Keller-Lynn, Jacob Magid and Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
