The new government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid will try to avoid battles against the opposition in the Knesset in the month ahead and will instead focus on less-controversial bills backed by the government, the heads of the coalition decided Tuesday.
During the first month of the government, private members’ bills will not be allowed from either the coalition or the opposition. The opposition wants to embarrass both right-wing and left-wing government ministers by proposing their own bills from the past that they will now have to vote against due to coalition discipline.
“Whenever a Knesset starts, there is a grace period for MKs to get acclimated,” a coalition source said. “It has nothing to do with fear of us losing a vote.”
What will be advanced during the first month are bills giving additional time to pass the state budget, setting the equality of the Right and Center-Left blocs within the current government and clarifying the roles of prime minister and alternate prime minister.
The most controversial bill the coalition intends to pass is amending the Expanded Norwegian Law, which enables ministers and deputy ministers to resign their Knesset seats to allow the next candidates on their party lists to take their place. Any minister who subsequently leaves the cabinet automatically reverts to becoming an MK and displaces the person for whom they made way.
The coalition agreement calls for amending the Norwegian Law to enable factions such as Yamina, which has seven MKs, to have four ministers and deputies resign; factions with three, such as New Hope, could have three quit.
Yesh Atid had opposed the bill in the past. But every faction in the coalition besides Yesh Atid needs the bill to give them more MKs to work for them in the Knesset who are not ministers or deputy ministers.
One of the bills set to be postponed is legislation that would enact term limits for the prime minister. The coalition is intent on backing term limits of eight years, or two terms, but did not decide on their extent or whether former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be grandfathered in.
Yesh Atid and Yisrael Beytenu are strongly in favor of including Netanyahu. But Yamina and New Hope have issued contrasting statements on the matter. Labor opposes legislation aimed at one person.
The coalition has decided to instead focus first on bills related to the economy, education and healthcare. Matters relating to “life itself” would take precedence at first, a Yesh Atid official said.
“I would rather stop thinking about Netanyahu and focus on helping the citizens of this country,” Labor leader Merav Michaeli said when asked by The Jerusalem Post about the bill at Monday’s faction meeting.