Jerusalem--Israel's parliament on Monday passed the first reading of a bill which would effectively enlarge the cabinet, in the first test of strength for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new coalition.
After the vote in the Knesset plenum, which was approved by 61 to 59, speaker Yuli Edelstein formally announced that Netanyahu had succeeded in forming a coalition government.
"I am honoured to announce to the Knesset that according to Basic Law: The Government, the prime minister has managed to forming a government," he said in remarks published on Ynet news website.
He now has seven days -- or until next Monday -- to have his new lineup sworn in, the website said.
Members of Netanyahu's new government, which commands a razor-thin majority of just 61 of the Knesset's 120 seats, were all present to vote in favour, as were all members of the opposition who have vowed to try and block the bill.
The bill seeks to delay implementation of a basic law on government passed last year which limited the number of ministers serving under the premier to 18.
The amendment would effectively allow Netanyahu to have a broader cabinet, to increase the number of deputy ministers and to appoint ministers without portfolio in order to satisfy the demands of senior figures within his ruling rightwing Likud party.
The law capping the number of ministers was approved last year in an attempt to reduce public spending.
A special committee formed to advance the bill was to quickly prepare it for its second and third reading, the website of the Haaretz daily said, indicating that opposition members were likely to continue staging filibusters in order to draw out the process.
Earlier, the High Court rejected a petition against the bill tabled by the centrist Yesh Atid party, whose head Yair Lapid was instrumental in putting together the law when he was finance minister.
The court's ruling cleared the way for the vote in the Knesset.
AFP
