Israeli right-wing party threatens to leave government if demands not met

Israel's right-wing Jewish Home party threatened to leave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition on Sunday if its demands to make changes to the security cabinet are not met.

The party demands to make changes to the security cabinet, a forum of top ministers convening of matters of national security, so that ministers would be more informed on what's going on in the field.

"We are not seeking jobs or asking for money, we wish to save human lives," chairman of the party and Education Minister Naftali Bennett told reporters during a visit to a Jerusalem school with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Sunday.

"I will continue to fight and defend Israeli soldiers and the citizens in communities near Gaza wherever I am, whether inside the government or outside of it," Bennett said on Sunday.

On Saturday, Bennett explained on his Facebook page his insistence of making changes to the security cabinet "which commands the chief of staff and the military, which makes fateful life-and-death decision" and said the security cabinet forum must "stop being blind."

Another member of the nationalist party, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, said on Sunday that if the party's demands are not accepted, the crisis may lead to a new elections.

"We don't think things should go there, but if the situation remains as it is, it is definitely an option," Shaked responded when asked about the prospects of them leaving the coalition, therefore triggering early elections, in an interview with Army Radio.

Last week, Bennet had threatened to vote against the nomination of Avigdor Lieberman from the nationalist Yisrael Beytenu (Israel Our Home) party after the latter signed a coalition deal with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu added Lieberman to his coalition, giving him the post of Defense Minister, in order to increase his lead over the opposition in parliament, from the previous razor thin 61-59.

Lieberman's appointment as minister, however, must be approved by the cabinet and the parliament, with voting set to take place on Monday.

If the Jewish Home party leaves the coalition, and no other party enters in its place, Netanyahu will have only 58 seats in his coalition, therefore he would lost his majority in the 120-seat parliament, paving the road for a new elections, a year after the previous one.

Knesset (parliament) speaker Yuli Edelstein (Likud) called both parties to reach an agreement, writing in his twitter page that Israelis should not be sent to vote in elections every year.

This development is the latest following the recent coalition deal between Netanyahu and Lieberman.

Ten days ago, former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, a moderate member of Netanyahu's Likud party, resigned after he was pushed out of his position in favor of hawkish Lieberman.

A week later, on Friday, Environmental Protection Minister Avi Gabbay from the center Kulanu party resigned from his post, saying Lieberman's nomination "undercuts Israel's security" and causes "greater polarization" among the Israeli people.

Another lawmaker who acted up following the nomination is Orly Levy Abekasis, a member of Yisrael Beytenu, who quit from the party amid the deal and will serve as an independent lawmaker.

The demand to make changes to the security cabinet follow a leaked report by the state comptroller, according to which cabinet ministers were not informed and kept up to date during the latest military campaign in the Gaza Strip, known as Operation Protective Edge, which took place for two months in the summer of 2014. Endit