The Knesset approved into law a bill that would protect Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from a court order to recuse himself, in an early Thursday morning final vote of 61 Knesset members in favor and 47 against.
The bill passed its second and third (final) readings following hours-long, heated discussions in the plenum that stretched into the early morning.
The opposition had filed numerous objections to the bill, which was fast-tracked in Knesset’s House Committee, and promised to stage a fiery filibuster against the legislation, seen as being “tailored” to save Netanyahu from potential legal trouble. The stalling proved to be largely symbolic, as the bill’s sponsor, Likud faction chairman MK Ofir Katz, agreed with the opposition to limit debate on the recusal bill to a maximum of 16 hours. Deliberations began Wednesday night, and the law passed around 6:00 a.m Thursday.
The legislation explicitly blocks the top court from ordering a prime minister to take a leave of absence, and is widely seen as a reaction to fears that the High Court of Justice could force Netanyahu to step down, due to the potential conflict of interest created by him overseeing his coalition’s bid to dramatically overhaul the judiciary while he is himself on trial for multiple corruption charges.
Netanyahu is on trial in three separate cases and facing charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust for allegedly taking expensive gifts from benefactors and attempting to arrange secret deals with media companies for more positive coverage. He denies wrongdoing.
According to the recusal law, only a three-quarters majority vote of government ministers or MKs can push a premier to take a temporary leave, and then, only for mental or physical health reasons.
Netanyahu is barred from dealing directly with the controversial overhaul plan due to a 2020 agreement. Reports in February, since strongly denied, indicated that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara was weighing whether to order the premier to step aside should he deal publicly with the judicial overhaul, which — if passed — could give the government control of new Supreme Court justice appointments, impacting a potential appeal of the verdict in his ongoing trial.
Katz’s amendment to the quasi-constitutional Basic Law: The Government, which gained government backing in February and advanced through its committee preparation last week, clarifies that there would be only two ways for a prime minister to be removed from office: either a prime minister informs the Knesset that they are recusing themselves, or the government suspends the prime minister in a majority vote of three-quarters of cabinet ministers, and that decision is then upheld by a majority of 90 members of the Knesset.
Last month, Baharav-Miara’s office said it opposed the bill since it would sharply reduce the circumstances under which the suspension of a prime minister could be ordered, and warned that the proposal would create a legal “black hole.”
“There is a difficulty in limiting the situations for suspension to only a lack of physical or mental fitness, while changing the existing law that recognizes other potential situations,” wrote Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon. “We believe that the combination of the bill’s components together could lead to absurd situations, in which a prime minister continues to serve in the role despite lacking the ability to do so.”
Proponents of the changes say they are designed to protect the will of voters from court overreach, but critics say it will run roughshod over regulations intended to keep public servants from using their authority for personal gain.
The coalition is pushing a second bill to block the court from reviewing ministerial appointments, which will pave the way for Shas leader Aryeh Deri to return to the cabinet.
In January, Baharav-Miara forced Netanyahu to fire Deri, a longtime ally, in line with a High Court ruling that Deri’s ministerial appointments were grossly unreasonable, in light of his financial crime convictions.
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Knesset passes law shielding Netanyahu from recusal in 61-47 final vote
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23.03.2023
The Knesset approved into law a bill that would protect Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from a court order to recuse himself, in an early Thursday morning final vote of 61 Knesset members in favor and 47 against.
The bill passed its second and third (final) readings following hours-long, heated discussions in the plenum that stretched into the early morning.
The opposition had filed numerous objections to the bill, which was fast-tracked in Knesset’s House Committee, and promised to stage a fiery filibuster against the legislation, seen as being “tailored” to save Netanyahu from potential legal trouble. The stalling proved to be largely symbolic, as the bill’s sponsor, Likud faction chairman MK Ofir Katz, agreed with the opposition to limit debate on the recusal bill to a maximum of 16 hours. Deliberations began Wednesday night, and the law passed around 6:00 a.m Thursday.
The legislation explicitly blocks the top court from ordering a prime minister to take a leave of absence, and is widely seen as a reaction to fears that the High Court of Justice could force Netanyahu to step down, due to the potential conflict of interest created by him overseeing his coalition’s bid to dramatically overhaul the judiciary while he is himself on trial for........
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