The Knesset Arrangements Committee voted on Monday to advance bills that would limit prime ministers to eight years in office and prevent an indicted one from forming a government.
The bills targeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advanced despite the opposition of Yamina, which said its MKs voted against them to protest other bills not being raised. Ra’am (United Arab List) MKs voted for both bills.
The decisions of the committee enabled the cooling-off period for the bills to be waived. But they will not be raised in the Knesset plenum in the next two weeks due to an arrangement between Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin and his deputies.
Yisrael Beytenu called Levin’s decision “hypocritical.” Opposition leader Yair Lapid said he would replace Levin immediately if he had the votes to do it. He would need a majority of 61 in the Knesset plenum.
The opposition got its revenge against Levin later on Monday by passing the appointment of new deputy Knesset speakers in the committee, who will be able to overrule him in key decisions due to their numerical advantage.
The bills would have to pass four times in the Knesset plenum and three more times in committee to pass into law, which could take several months.
Earlier, a bill that would form a state commission of inquiry to investigate the tragedy at the Tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Meron on Lag Ba’omer was advanced by the committee in a 19-13 vote.
The committee also decided to waive the bill’s cooling-off period. It will be able to come to a vote in the Knesset plenum next week if it passes in next Sunday’s cabinet meeting, where it will be raised by Blue and White leader Benny Gantz.
Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) MKs tried their best to prevent the vote, organizing a walkout and a filibuster. The haredi MKs said they would prefer an informal public committee to a formal commission of inquiry headed by a Supreme Court judge.
United Torah Judaism MK Yakov Asher said he voted against advancing the bill because it would advance political interests and postpone giving the families of the victims the help that they need from the state.
Family members of the victims urged the formation of such an informal committee. Their only request was that there be a haredi representative on the committee who would understand the sensitivity of their sector, ideally a representative of the families themselves.