Law and behold: The legislation that survived winter in the Knesset

It opened in late October with the fate of the public broadcaster riling the coalition; it ended on Wednesday with the fate of the public broadcaster riling the coalition.

In between, the Knesset’s eventful three-and-a-half-month-long winter session, which officially ends Sunday but held its final plenary session on Wednesday, saw personal drama in the conviction of an Arab lawmaker for smuggling cellphones to terrorists in prison. And it saw legislative drama in approving the contentious outpost legalization law, which despite its initial framing did not avert the court-ordered evacuation of Amona.

The right-wing coalition survived the destruction of the hilltop settler community — seen as the main threat to its stability — wholly intact. It passed Israel’s first two-year budget with little difficulty, and banned boycott activists from the country. Even a long-anticipated state comptroller report on the Gaza war, which was predicted to stir a political “earthquake,” barely put a dent in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “Mr. Security” armor.

Just as consequential as the bills that ultimately became law were those bills that were postponed time and again, or quietly buried, such as the bid to annex the Ma’ale Adumim settlement, delayed until spring at the very least; the Shas legislation to criminalize non-Orthodox prayer, dancing, and singing at the Western Wall and Robinson’s Arch, which never even made it to the first legislative stage; and the short-lived prime minister criminal immunity bill, tucked away by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked in late January for at least three months, even as the criminal probes into Netanyahu deepened.

Some of the laws that made the most noise during the winter Knesset session also failed to make much headway in the legislative pipeline. The fiercely controversial mosque-muffling bill, for instance, was approved in its initial reading on March 8. But contrary to other bills, there were no last-ditch coalition moves to expedite the legislation in the last week of the Knesset session.

A controversial law to block access to pornographic sites, raising cries of censorship, has seemingly been put on ice, with little discussion of the legislation since it cleared its initial hurdle. Similarly, a government-backed bill that would force Facebook to remove Palestinian incitement appears to have been put on the back burner since its first reading in January. And a bill to end automatic custody for mothers of children under six, which threatened to pit government ministers against one another, never even made it to a preliminary reading on the Knesset floor, despite repeated attempts by some coalition lawmakers.

As Netanyahu returns from China on Thursday, it remains to be seen whether new elections, as the premier has threatened, are in the offing over the new broadcasting corporation, which the prime minister has sought to kill, and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon to salvage.

In the meantime, here is a look at some of Israel’s cabinet decisions and newest laws, many of which were approved during a flurry of activity in the last week of the session.

Legalize it?

In the coming months, the High Court of Justice will decide whether to strike down or uphold the outpost legalization law, which paves the way for Israel to recognize 4,000 homes that were build illegally on private Palestinian land.

Opposition lawmakers, and reportedly Netanyahu as well, have warned the law will land Israel in the International Criminal Court. Meanwhile, the international community has forcefully condemned it, and Israel’s attorney general has refused to defend it in court. Proponents of the bill point to the compensation it’ll provide to Palestinian landowners, noting that under Israeli law within the 1967 lines, Israeli landowners whose properties were seized by the state have the right to demand compensation but cannot seek the razing of structures built on their land.

The sweeping law dominated the Knesset agenda for months before it was approved in its second and third readings on February 6.

But a follow-up move, namely the annexation of the West Bank city of Ma’ale Adumim, advanced by Likud MK Yoav Kisch and Jewish Home MK Betzalel Smotrich, appears to be a step too far for Netanyahu and the Trump administration (which is shaping up to be less tolerant of settlements than Israel’s hard right had hoped), with the legislation pulled from the agenda for several consecutive weeks and now delayed indefinitely.

In late February, the Knesset also extended its anti-discrimination laws to include residents of settlements. Now, businesses that do not provide services or ship goods to residents of Jewish settlements in the West Bank will be required to state clearly and display that policy. Businesses that fail to properly warn about their policy — for example with a sign of at least A4 size by the cash register — could be fined up to NIS 10,000 ($2,690).

Who boycotts the boycotters?

Earlier this month, the Knesset approved a law spearheaded by right-wing and centrist lawmakers that bans foreign supporters of a boycott of the State of Israel or the settlements from entering the country. The law does not apply to foreign nationals who have a residency permit and gives the interior minister leeway to make exceptions. Under the earlier law, the interior minister already had the right to bar individuals from entering Israel. The law has drawn condemnation from left-wing human rights groups, which dubbed it “thought control” and “neither Jewish nor democratic.”

On Wednesday, the final plenary session of the winter session also saw Netanyahu get his small, promised comeuppance against the B’Tselem organization over the watchdog’s outspoken rebuke of Israel’s settlements policy before the UN Security Council in October. The Knesset passed a law that bans national service at NGOs that receive most of their funding from foreign actors, namely human rights groups, unless they receive special permission from a minister.

The provision was part of a larger law to regulate Israel’s national service programs for the first time. The law is more of a symbolic jab at B’Tselem than anything else: A spokesman for the group has noted that there is one slot for a volunteer at the NGO, which remains unfilled.

‘Big Brother’ is watching

The Knesset on February 27 made biometric ID cards — which digitally encode personal information, fingerprints, photo and facial profile — mandatory, beginning July 3. Proponents of the law say it is necessary to prevent identity theft. Opponents have argued the database would be vulnerable to hacking, and compromises citizens’ personal data.

Railing against the bill, Joint (Arab) List MK Dov Khenin said the measure makes Israel a “Big Brother society.”

The proposal was first touted in 2009 by then-interior minister Meir Sheetrit, and approved on condition that a two-year pilot be conducted first. The trial period began in 2013 but was extended. Some 1.2 million Israelis have already volunteered for the program, which, in addition to the ID card, includes a “smart” passport.

Baby steps for maternity leave

Knesset members voted Tuesday to extend paid maternity leave from 14 to 15 weeks. The modest increase will apply to all women who have given birth since January 1. According to Kulanu MK Rachel Azaria, who is behind the bill, the Knesset will consider another week-long extension within six months.

The last time the Knesset extended paid maternity leave was in 2007, when it was raised from 12 to 14 weeks.

Recognizing terror victims abroad

Also Tuesday, the Knesset passed a law by Yesh Atid MK Haim Jellin and Likud MK David Bitan to recognize Israelis killed and injured in attacks abroad as terror victims for purposes of compensation, even if the attacks were not specifically targeting Israelis or Jews.

In a rare move, the recognition will be applied retroactively to Israelis killed abroad within the past five years, including Dalia Elkayim, murdered in a Berlin truck-ramming terror attack in December, and 19-year-old Lian Zaher Nasser from the Arab Israeli city of Tira, killed in a New Years shooting attack at an Istanbul nightclub, among others. In order for an attack to be recognized by Israel, the group that perpetrated it must include attacking Israel or Jews as a goal in its charter.

The sole lawmaker to vote against the bill was Likud’s Yehudah Glick, who argued that Israel must distinguish between attacks targeting its nationals or Jews and general attacks, lest it conflate all victims of all conflicts — including jihadists — with Israeli terror victims and slain soldiers.

“Let every Jewish mother know that her soldier son is for the Israeli legislator like an Arab Israeli who joined the Islamic State,” he wrote on Facebook. “If they fall in battle, we will stand up for [both] their memories on Memorial Day. That’s according to the law that was adopted tonight in the Knesset.”

Outing get-out-the-vote groups

With election speculation mounting, the Knesset approved the so-called “V15” law. In the final version of the bill, contributions larger than NIS 100,000 ($27,000) will have to be reported to the state comptroller and those larger than NIS 400,000 will be subject to fines and tighter scrutiny.

The bill also mandates limits on groups for specific campaign activities costing upwards of than NIS 100,000: creating a voter database and documenting political leanings, directly appealing to voters with certain opinions in the three months prior to the election to influence their votes, and launching a publicity campaign during an election aimed at influencing people to vote for or against a particular Knesset list.

Adapting adoption laws

Under Israel’s dated adoption privacy laws, adopted children and their adoptive parents could face up to six months in prison for even noting the existence of the adoption without explicit court permission. On February 13, the Knesset passed an amendment permitting the children and parents to state their adoption openly, and for the first time — but only if both parties agree. Otherwise, it’s off to court.

Other new laws will see elderly Israelis over the age of 80 jump to the front of the line, keep sex offenders from coming near or attending educational institutions where their victims are studying, and enable religious sanctions on men jailed for refusing to divorce their wives.

Bid to integrate Bedouins, end polygamy

In February, the cabinet approved a NIS 3 billion, five-year plan to improve the socioeconomic status of the country’s Bedouin communities by bolstering housing, providing employment training and improving public transportation.

Under the terms of the proposal, 10 new industrial areas will be established in Bedouin areas, NIS 340 million ($90 million) will be invested in improving employment options, NIS 80 million ($21 million) will go toward job training and integration into the workforce, and NIS 250 ($66 million) to be spent on developing public transportation.

In addition, the government hopes to build some 25,000 housing units by 2022 in the Bedouin communities.

Ministers also approved a plan to combat polygamy among the Bedouin, of whom one-third are thought to engage in the illegal practice, with little enforcement. The government has long turned a blind eye to the phenomenon, and some Israeli Arab women’s groups, suspicious of the state’s motives, are less than taken with the plan.

Going to pot

The cabinet on March 5 approved a blueprint for some decriminalization of personal use and possession of marijuana, paving the way for slightly lighter penalties for recreational use of the substance. An inter-ministerial committee evaluating the issue is set to present its recommendations to the government by May 7, and the plan must clear the Knesset.

Netanyahu has said Israel will move forward with marijuana legislation in a “cautious, controlled manner.”

“On the hand one, we are open to the future,” he said, adding that “we also understand the dangers and we will try to balance the two things.”

Anti-Semitism, defined

On January 22, the cabinet formally adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of anti-Semitism (full text). The move came a month after the United Kingdom adopted the international definition in a bid to more effectively combat the trend.

The Knesset reopens on May 8.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.