Yashar Faction Asks Haredi Parties to Join Knesset Speaker Ouster; Yahadut HaTorah Refuses

The Yashar faction, led by Roi Folkman, has approached the Shas and United Torah Judaism parties in the Knesset, inviting them to join a move to replace the current Knesset Speaker. The faction stated that the process of collecting signatures for the official request is underway and that both parties are welcome to join. United Torah Judaism announced it would not join the initiative at this time, explaining they support replacing the Speaker upon the government's swearing-in. The Yashar faction's appeal comes ahead of the organizing committee meeting scheduled for Monday at 4:00 PM, which is set to discuss the establishment of Knesset committees, including the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the Finance Committee. Yashar aims to have preparations for committee appointments and the election of a new Speaker completed before the opening of the 26th Knesset. Within the "Change Bloc" negotiations, the identity of the candidate for Speaker is also being discussed. One possibility being considered is appointing Gadi Eisenkot to the role. This option is partly due to the difficulty of removing a sitting Speaker, which requires a majority of 90 Knesset members. If Eisenkot were elected Speaker and later became Prime Minister, he could resign, allowing for a new Speaker to be chosen. The "Change Bloc" has 67 members, but efforts are being made to secure the support of Shas and United Torah Judaism, which together hold 12 mandates. This is occurring against the backdrop of Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman's opposition to forming a government reliant on Arab party support.