Israel’s new government under Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu has cleared another hurdle. On Tuesday morning, the parliament, the Knesset, passed an amendment to the constitution that would allow convicted politicians to become ministers.
Further amendments to the law are still pending; including the extension of the powers of the Minister of National Security, who will in future be responsible for border police in the occupied West Bank.
Members of the Knesset voted 63 to 55 for the change. It is intended to enable the chairman of the strictly religious Jewish Schas party, Arie Deri, to become interior minister – even though he was given a suspended prison sentence in January for tax offenses.
Under current law, the chairman of the Central Electoral Committee should have decided whether Deri’s actions were morally reprehensible. This would have barred him from holding a ministerial office for seven years. The new legal situation no longer applies to suspended prison sentences.
A second legislative amendment passed on Tuesday is tailored for Religious Zionism party leader Bezalel Smotrich. It enables him to hold a ministerial post in the Ministry of Defense in addition to the Ministry of Finance and to assume responsibility for civil affairs in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including settlement building. Smotrich is considered a strong advocate of settlement policy and wants to see more settlements legalized.
According to media reports, the pending change in the law aims to give far-reaching powers over the police to the right-wing extremist Itamar Ben-Gvir (Otzma Jehudit), who has been earmarked for the Ministry of National Security. The corresponding draft is to be brought before Parliament in the second and third reading in the afternoon. At the end of the session, Speaker of Parliament Jariv Levin announced his resignation effective Thursday. He is expected to take over the Justice Department.
On December 21, Netanyahu informed President Izchak Herzog in good time that he had succeeded in forming a new government. The government swearing-in ceremony is reportedly scheduled for Thursday.
In addition to Netanyahu’s right-wing conservative Likud party, the right-wing extremist Religious-Zionist Alliance and two strictly religious parties will be represented in the government. It is the most right-wing government in the country’s history. (KNA)
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