Opposition maneuver sticks it to Yamina and Abir Kara

These are the kind of maneuvers I like to see the Opposition do, even if they really are meaningless.

The Opposition brought a law proposal forward to let freelancers, self employed people, to qualify for unemployment payments. until now they have a special status in which they pay full Bituach Leumi but get almost no benefits in return - the benefits are saved only for fully employed people. Female freelancers don't get maternity leave, no unemployment, paternity leave, sick days, etc. 

This has been an issue for a long time, with many politicians over the years promising right before elections to deal with it, then doing nothing. The difference now is that MK Abir Kara was a leader of the Shulmanim group that joined forces with Yamina - the Shulmanim is the group of activists (now turned politician) that spearheaded the efforts to assist the freelancers. 

This is something that Abir Kara (and all other politicians, but especially Kara) should have naturally supported. But Kara could not support, nor could the rest of Yamina or other Coalition party members, because of coalition discipline. 

Another funny point is that the Opposition members who tried to push this through now were in government for the last 12 years straight but never supported such a law, but did now just to stick it to Kara and put him on the spot.

The bill fell, losing by one vote, as Kara and the rest of the Coalition voted against.

Presumably Kara and others will at some point bring their own bill forward to deal with this. It is totally understandable that they opposed it now, as happens in every government when the Opposition tries to stick it to the Coalition. Maneuvers like this are standard for Opposition parties and keep thigns interesting.

As a side note, another interesting point is that the law now was proposed by the Arab party Balad, considered by right wing parliamentarians to be a terror-supporting party. The Likud MKs and other right wing MKs in the Opposition supported a law proposal by Balad just to stick it to Abir Kara.

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