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Last update - 11:44 12/01/2009
Most MKs oppose postponing elections over Gaza fighting
By Haaretz Staff
Tags: Israel, Israel News, IDF 

Most Knesset members oppose the idea of postponing the upcoming election because of the fighting in Gaza, which makes the chances of mustering the necessary 80-MK majority for the move highly unlikely.

Firm opposition to postponement was expressed by Labor, Likud, Shas, Meretz and Yisrael Beiteinu, which together command 59 of the Knesset's 120 seats. Kadima, which has 29 seats, also officially opposes the idea, though some party members, led by Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik, say it must be considered if the fighting has not ended by next week. National Union-National Religious Party (9 seats) also says it currently opposes postponement, but might reconsider if the fighting is still going on next week.

In contrast, the Pensioners (7 seats) have been pushing for postponement, and the Arab parties (10 seats) are leaning toward supporting it, fearing that Arab anger over the military operation could result in an electoral boycott, which would weaken their representation.
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Knesset legal advisor Nurit Elstein yesterday gave all the MKs a copy of her legal opinion stating that elections could only be postponed with the support of at least 80 MKs, and if "special circumstances" prevent holding them on time. However, she declined to state whether she thought the fighting in Gaza provided the requisite "special circumstances," saying that decision had to be based on circumstances at the time the Knesset actually debates postponement - and so far, no such motion has even been submitted. Last week, however, former Central Elections Commission chairman Mishael Cheshin, a retired Supreme Court justice, told Israel Radio that he believes the current fighting would definitely not justify postponement.

But while postponement currently seems like a dead letter, the idea has nevertheless served as a convenient whip with which the parties can beat each other - a boon at a time when most have formally suspended their campaigns. MK Shelly Yachimovich (Labor), for instance, accused Itzik in a radio interview yesterday of "being behind a manipulative move to postpone the elections, perhaps because she has trouble giving up her job." And Itzik, in a separate interview, charged that those who commissioned the opinion from Elstein - namely, Yachimovich and MK Gideon Sa'ar (Likud) - apparently feel "slightly unemployed," and would be better occupied "visiting the wounded in hospitals in the south."
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