Yamina MK Orbach heads to third meeting today with Bennett before likely defection

According to various media reports, Yamina MK Nir Orbach is ready to leave the current governing coalition, and is scheduled to meet for the third time today with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett later tonight. According to a report in Walla, Orbach is considering voting to dissolve the Knesset in an initial vote and then attempt to form a new government within the current Knesset without holding a new national election. Such a move would prevent Foreign Minister Yair Lapid from becoming interim prime minister during the election period. But if a new government cannot be formed, Orbach is expected to vote in a second and third reading to head into a new election, a move that would anoint Lapid prime minister, according to coalition agreements. Orbach, who has been seen as the most likely new defector from the faltering governing coalition, met with Bennett on Wednesday and Thursday nights, and twice already today, without issuing any details or decisions of the meetings. It's not (just) about you. Supporting The Times of Israel is not a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good- Ensuring that balanced and responsible coverage of Israel remains available to millions of people around the world, free of charge. Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll get access to exclusive content exclusive to the community. But your support gives you something deeper than that: the pride of joining. something that really matters. Join the Times of Israel community Join our community Already a member? Sign in to stop watching this you are a dedicated reader We are very happy that you have read X Israel Times Articles in the last month. That's why we started the Times of Israel ten years ago: to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and world Jewry. So now we have a request. Unlike other media outlets, we have not installed a paywall. But since the journalism we do is expensive, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Community of the Times of Israel. For as little as $6 a month, you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel. AD FREEas well as access exclusive content available only to members of the Times of Israel community. Thank you, David Horovitz, founding editor of The Times of Israel Join our community Join our community Already a member? Sign in to stop watching this !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)}; if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script', 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '272776440645465'); fbq('track', 'PageView'); var comment_counter = 0; window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({ appId : '123142304440875', xfbml : true, version : 'v5.0' }); FB.AppEvents.logPageView(); FB.Event.subscribe('comment.create', function (response) { comment_counter++; if(comment_counter == 2){ jQuery.ajax({ type: "POST", url: "/wp-content/themes/rgb/functions/facebook.php", data: { p: "2779645", c: response.commentID, a: "add" } }); comment_counter = 0; } }); FB.Event.subscribe('comment.remove', function (response) { jQuery.ajax({ type: "POST", url: "/wp-content/themes/rgb/functions/facebook.php", data: { p: "2779645", c: response.commentID, a: "rem" } }); }); }; (function(d, s, id){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));