Far right coalition boycotts Knesset vote backing Trump’s Gaza plan as opposition aims to embarrass Netanyahu

By Tal Shalev, CNN

(CNN) — 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 leader Yair Lapid, passed with 39 votes in favor and none against. As the period to debate the proposal began, members of Netanyahu’s coalition fled the Knesset plenum, hastily rushing to the exits as the vote neared.

“I admit that I am surprised and disappointed that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not here,” said Lapid as the debate began. “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 in the Israeli opposition, the move aimed to “challenge and embarrass” Netanyahu before the Trump administration while sowing and exposing divisions within his far-right coalition. The proposal now heads to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, where Netanyahu’s coalition is likely to bury it.

Netanyahu publicly endorsed the plan during his September 2025 visit to the White House and welcomed its adoption by the UN Security Council in November.

However, the Cabinet, which includes Netanyahu’s far-right allies, has never formally discussed or voted on the full plan beyond the first phase of the ceasefire, which involved a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in exchange for the return of the remaining living and deceased hostages. Israel also agreed to release a number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

The second phase of the ceasefire plan acknowledges a pathway to “Palestinian self-determination and statehood,” while calling for a reformed Palestinian Authority to eventually govern Gaza.

Despite verbally agreeing to the plan, Netanyahu has repeatedly pledged that he will not allow the establishment of a Palestinian state. His coalition partners, far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, have both 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 other members already announced last week they will oppose Lapid’s motion.

“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 said on Israel’s Army Radio last week. Instead of voting against the proposal, Netanyahu’s coalition left the room, allowing it to pass with opposition support.

Netanyahu himself has not publicly commented on Lapid’s motion, but two coalition sources told CNN internal discussions have taken place in recent days as the group deliberated how to handle the vote.

Ahead of the vote, Lapid wrote on X that it should be “a moment of unity, reflecting the public unity for President Trump’s and his team’s efforts,” adding that he expects Netanyahu “to instruct his party members and his coalition members to support the proposal.”

The opposition employed a similar tactic in a controversial vote in October, when the Knesset gave a preliminary approval to a bill calling for Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank during US Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Israel. The measure passed by one vote, 25-24, despite Netanyahu’s request to withdraw it, as rebellious right-wing lawmakers defied him.

Vance condemned the move as an “insult” and a “very stupid political stunt,” while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called 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 happened.

Following the harsh US reactions, Netanyahu’s office called the vote a “deliberate political provocation.” The Israeli prime minister subsequently instructed his coalition whip not to advance any annexation related legislation.

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