Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition on Wednesday boycotted a Knesset vote endorsing US President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza.
The vote, initiated by opposition chief Yair Lapid, handed with 39 votes in favor and none towards. As the interval to debate the proposal started, members of Netanyahu’s coalition fled the Knesset plenum, rapidly dashing to the exits as the vote neared.
“I admit that I am surprised and disappointed that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not here,” stated Lapid as the talk started. “This is the first opportunity given to us as a Knesset to say to President Trump, to say to the world, to say to ourselves – we are uniting around a common goal. Netanyahu chose to boycott the vote and not come here. It’s a shame.”
The largely symbolic measure states that “the Israeli Knesset decides to accept and adopt the 20-point plan of US President Trump.”
According to sources within the Israeli opposition, the transfer aimed to “challenge and embarrass” Netanyahu earlier than the Trump administration whereas sowing and exposing divisions inside his far-right coalition. The proposal now heads to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the place Netanyahu’s coalition is probably going to bury it.
Netanyahu publicly endorsed the plan throughout his September 2025 go to to the White House and welcomed its adoption by the UN Security Council in November.
However, the Cabinet, which incorporates Netanyahu’s far-right allies, has by no means formally mentioned or voted on the total plan past the primary section of the ceasefire, which concerned a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in trade for the return of the remaining dwelling and deceased hostages. Israel additionally agreed to launch a variety of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
The second section of the ceasefire plan acknowledges a pathway to “Palestinian self-determination and statehood,” whereas calling for a reformed Palestinian Authority to finally govern Gaza.
Despite verbally agreeing to the plan, Netanyahu has repeatedly pledged that he won’t permit the institution of a Palestinian state. His coalition companions, far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, have each rejected the Trump plan. Smotrich demanded on X in November that Netanyahu “Immediately formulate and appropriate and decisive response that will make it clear to the entire world – a Palestinian state will never be established in our homeland.”
Ben Gvir and different members already introduced final week they’ll oppose Lapid’s movement.
“We will certainly vote against – if Lapid wants to embarrass the state, that’s his business. A Palestinian state will not be established,” Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu stated on Israel’s Army Radio final week. Instead of voting towards the proposal, Netanyahu’s coalition left the room, permitting it to cross with opposition assist.
Netanyahu himself has not publicly commented on Lapid’s movement, however two coalition sources informed NCS inside discussions have taken place in current days as the group deliberated how to deal with the vote.
Ahead of the vote, Lapid wrote on X that it ought to be “a moment of unity, reflecting the public unity for President Trump’s and his team’s efforts,” including that he expects Netanyahu “to instruct his party members and his coalition members to support the proposal.”
The opposition employed an identical tactic in a controversial vote in October, when the Knesset gave a preliminary approval to a invoice calling for Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank throughout US Vice President JD Vance’s go to to Israel. The measure handed by one vote, 25-24, regardless of Netanyahu’s request to withdraw it, as rebellious right-wing lawmakers defied him.
Vance condemned the transfer as an “insult” and a “very stupid political stunt,” whereas US Secretary of State Marco Rubio known as it “counterproductive” and “even threatening” to Trump’s Gaza peace plan. Trump himself warned in an October interview with Time Magazine that “Israel would lose all of its support from the US” if annexation occurred.
Following the tough US reactions, Netanyahu’s workplace known as the vote a “deliberate political provocation.” The Israeli prime minister subsequently instructed his coalition whip not to advance any annexation associated laws.