Bill to let Shas chief be minister despite conviction passes preliminary reading

A bill to change Israel’s Basic Law to clear a path for a party leader serving a suspended sentence — Shas’s Aryeh Deri — to become a minister passes its preliminary reading in the Knesset, the incoming coalition’s first bill to come to a vote in the 25th Knesset.

With 62 votes in favor and 53 against, the amendment states that only a person handed a custodial sentence is blocked from being a minister.

The three other bills are slated to come for rapid vote in quick succession, and then all four will be sent onwards to committees in preparation for their next vote, technically called a first reading.

After that first reading, the bills return to committee to be readied for their second and third readings, often conducted together. If passed on their third reading, the bills become law. Basic Laws require the vote of 61 MKs to pass on their third reading.