Lacking a majority, coalition delays final vote to limit PM terms to 8 years

Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced on Wednesday morning that the coalition would push back the vote on a bill that sought to limit prime ministers to eight years in office.

The coalition appeared to cite Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s meetings with visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as a reason for the delay.

Opposition lawmakers withdrew all their reservations, meaning the third and final vote could have been held before Bennett arrived to cast the crucial ballot — whereupon Sa’ar was forced to  pull the bill from the schedule.

The move came after the bill passed its second reading during an at times ill-tempered overnight session in the Knesset.

“All of its clauses were approved by the required majority,” Sa’ar tweeted. “I will not allow the huge amount of work invested in the law to go down the drain. Next week we will vote on the third reading and God willing the work will be completed.”

According to the Kan public broadcaster, voting the bill down is being viewed by the opposition as a chance to send a message of no-confidence in the government. Therefore the Joint List was not expected to support the legislation, even though there had been suggestions it would.

The coalition numbers just 61 of the 120 Knesset members, meaning any single lawmaker can hold the crucial vote on any legislation, complicating the day-to-day business of the government. The coalition has been forced to pull multiple votes in recent weeks for this reason.

Opposition Likud MK Yariv Levin said that the delay on the vote showed that there was “no government” functioning in Israel.

“It’s the fourth week in a row in which the government is forced to withdraw laws due to the lack of a majority. In these days there is no government in Israel. We will replace them,” Levin tweeted.

The proposal, which is being pushed by Sa’ar, was seen to be a response to opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who was in power for more than a decade before he was replaced by Bennett.

The proposed amendment would force a prime minister to step down after eight consecutive years in power, requiring the formation of a new government, though not necessarily new elections.

The bill also bars a person from being premier even if they have served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, if no more than three years separate the tenures. If the gap between the tenures is more than three years, the eight-year counter is reset, according to the bill.

Netanyahu’s Likud party has denounced the proposal as an effort to prevent him regaining the premiership. However, if approved, the eight-year term limit would not apply retroactively, and thus it would not block now-opposition leader Netanyahu from returning to power.

Cumulatively, Netanyahu has served as prime minister for 15 years, 12 of them consecutively since 2009. He is currently on trial in three corruption cases, though he denies any wrongdoing.

Sa’ar insists that the bill is not aimed personally at Netanyahu, though he is also working on legislation that would rule out as a potential premier anyone indicted for a crime that comes with a minimum three-year sentence and moral turpitude.

Were he convicted of such a crime, such a law would apply to Netanyahu and would keep him out of the prime minister’s seat.