From the Liveblog of
Sunday, March 15, 2026
Amid Iran war, coalition advancing contentious bills on AG, media reforms, politically appointed Oct. 7 probe
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
After an apparent two-week respite amid the Iran war, parliamentary debate is set to resume on a number of highly controversial bills this week, prompting harsh pushback from the opposition.
The legislation set to return to the Knesset’s wartime agenda includes bills that would overhaul the media market, split up the role of the attorney general, and establish a politically appointed probe into the failures of October 7, 2023.
The opposition condemned the decision to resume work on the coalition’s legislative agenda during wartime, with Opposition Leader Yair Lapid accusing Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and “all the extremists” of not caring that Israel is at war.
“While the entire country is standing together, the coalition is promoting its extremist agenda and stealing money for political purposes,” he said last night.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main rival in the upcoming election, called the decision to renew work on the legislation “a punch in the stomach of IDF fighters and the public in a time of war.”
Lawmakers from Yair Golan’s The Democrats party sent a letter to Knesset legal advisor Sagit Afik “urgently demand[ing] that work on legislation unrelated to the war be suspended.”
Parliamentary activity was severely curtailed following the outbreak of the war and was initially limited to discussions of legislation linked to the 2026 state budget and the war itself. However, on Thursday, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana’s office announced plans to increase the amount of activity at the Knesset.
The Times of Israel Community.