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Even police investigations don't weaken Bibi's coalition

While former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was forced to resign because of police investigations into his affairs, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces no political risk in the near future.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint declaration with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, July 16, 2017. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe - RTX3BNZV
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon agreed on Aug. 8 to allocate 100 million shekels ($28 million) for Israel's 70th-anniversary celebrations in April 2018. It was the second time the two men had cooperated in as many days. On Monday, the Supreme Court struck down the Third Apartment Tax Law, one of Kahlon's major initiatives to lower housing costs. Nevertheless, he was able to reach an agreement with Netanyahu's right-hand man in the Knesset, coalition Chairman David Bitan, that the law would be legislated again as early as the Knesset's summer recess in September. What this means for him is that he will not have to wait to pass this law until the winter session begins in October.

Until only recently, Bitan never missed an opportunity to attack and ridicule the finance minister. He even set obstacles for Kahlon's "Net Family" plan of benefits for families with children. Then there was the third side of the triangle that made up the political maneuvering to pass the proposed tax on apartments: the chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee, Moshe Gafni, of ultra-Orthodox Yahadut HaTorah. Although he expressed reservations about the law and the way it had been legislated, he agreed to Kahlon's request to expedite the process.

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