Stuart Winer is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with MK Miki Zohar during a Likud faction meeting at the Knesset, on December 7, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
With hours remaining before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s mandate to form a government expires, Likud faction chairman MK Miki Zohar sought approval from a key Knesset committee to fast-track a bill proposing a direct vote for prime minister as a way of resolving the political deadlock in the wake of last month’s inconclusive elections.
However, parties backing Netanyahu as prime minister do not appear to have a majority on the Knesset’s Arrangements Committee — or in the Knesset itself — making quick passage of the bill unlikely. Yamina indicated it would back fast-tracking the bill, but did not say it would support the bill itself.