By World Israel News Staff
Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy (Yesh Atid) mistakenly voted against his convictions Thursday morning,
The vote was to advance the Elkin Law, allowing Housing and Construction Minister Ze’ev Elkin (New Hope) to serve on the rabbinical judges committee as well as guaranteeing four places on the panel for women. Such an outcome would reduce ultra-Orthodox influence.
Elkin, a longtime confidant of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, moved to the New Hope party ahead of the most recent national election.
The vote took place after a marathon all-night Knesset session with arguments for and against.
The final vote – the third and final one – came to a 51-51 tie. According to parliamentary procedure, a majority is needed to pass a law, and therefore it was defeated.
Upon realizing his error, Levy requested permission to change his vote but to no avail.
