Isareli Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman has reportedly said he will leave the Cabinet if a bill requiring naturalized citizens to pledge allegiance to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state fails to pass.

But a head count by Haaretz reveals that currently, there is no Knesset majority for the bill: Only 56 of the 120 Knesset members support it. Its passage will thus depend on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ability to strong-arm Members of Knesset who currently oppose it into switching their votes.

Neeman made his reported comment at a closed meeting with Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser, Public Diplomacy Minister Yuli Edelstein and coalition chairman Zeev Elkin to discuss the exact wording of the bill, following Netanyahu’s decision on October 18 that the pledge would be required of all new citizens, Jews and non-Jews alike.

This was a change from a previous Cabinet decision that would have required the oath only of non-Jewish naturalized citizens.

Edelstein and Elkin, both immigrants from the former Soviet Union, told Neeman at the meeting that they will not support the bill in its new form, as it discriminates between Jews born in Israel and Jews who immigrate under the Law of Return.

Neeman spent most of October 19 in negotiations to find a wording that would enjoy the broadest possible support in the Cabinet. In particular, he wants to find wording that the three Likud party Cabinet members who voted against the bill on October 10 can support.

But the Labor Party has already announced that it will oppose the revised bill, as has United Torah Judaism and the entire opposition, including the right-wing National Union. That leaves the coalition without enough votes to pass it.

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Make a matched gift today.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT