Presumptive incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly gearing up to request an extension of his four-week mandate to form a government, which expires at midnight on December 11 and 12, according to a statement from the outgoing coalition. The member urged President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday to say no. ,
Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar said that any request to extend the mandate at this point would be a “hoax”, claiming that Netanyahu had already finished assembling his coalition and was only discussing “problematic laws”. The announcement was delayed to pass up a series. His aides insist.
Netanyahu’s Likud party announced on Monday that its bloc of allies – which has a 64-seat majority in the 120-member Knesset – had already collected the 61 signatures needed to replace the parliament speaker before the next government is sworn in. . Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy said he would call a plenum For that vote next Monday, Netanyahu’s mandate will expire in the absence of an extension.
The election of a new speaker from the bloc led by Netanyahu is an essential prerequisite if the planned right-wing religious coalition is to take office, as many of Netanyahu’s ministerial appointments and commitments to incoming coalition parties require changes to existing legislation. required, and the Speaker exercises considerable control over the Knesset’s legislative agenda.
The controversial legislative assault will involve passing an amendment to Israel’s semi-constitutional Basic Law so that Shas party leader Aryeh Deri can continue as a minister alongside the rest of the incoming government, despite being given a suspended sentence for tax fraud earlier this year. I can be sworn in. ,
The attorney general has said the Central Election Committee should determine whether the current, vaguely worded law gives a person a suspended sentence from becoming a cabinet minister, but Netanyahu plans to sidestep the issue entirely by changing the law. are making. Derry, who served a prison sentence for bribery earlier in his career, is set to become both health and interior ministers in the upcoming government, according to coalition agreements.
Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and President Isaac Herzog at the presidential residence in Jerusalem on November 13, 2022 (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
Planned law changes also reportedly include allowing the Knesset to override High Court rulings with a 61-strong majority. The override clause could, among other concerns, deter any legal challenge to Derry’s ministerial appointment. Critics have warned that the override clause would seriously undermine the separation of powers between the judiciary and the legislature.
The National Unity Party’s Saar said in a statement on Tuesday: “The submission of signatures by the parties to replace the Knesset speaker in Netanyahu’s bloc indicates that the assembly of the government has been completed. For that purpose, Netanyahu has an additional request from the president.” Days request is a hoax. Aims to pass individual, problematic laws at the behest of his allies before forming a government.
“It is not for this purpose that the law gives the president the power to extend the deadline,” said Saar, a former right-wing ally of Netanyahu who has become a bitter rival. “The president should deny Netanyahu’s request.”
However, Herzog’s request to be denied is seen as highly unlikely, since there is no other prime ministerial candidate, and since extensions have been granted in the past to finalize coalition agreements, and while the president has weight Has the discretion to make the request, it is limited.
Netanyahu was given 28 days last month to form a government after a majority of newly elected Knesset members recommended him as prime minister. By law, the president can extend them by another 14 days.
