Coalition whip says non-urgent bills pulled from Knesset agenda after Majdal Shams attack
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. 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"
Coalition whip Ofir Katz of Likud announces that all nonessential bills will be removed from the Knesset agenda tomorrow, the final day of the summer legislative session.
“Following Hezbollah’s shocking massacre of the children of Majdal Shams, it was decided that only urgent government bills will be on the Knesset’s agenda tomorrow. Our hearts are with the residents and the entire Druze community,” he states.
According to the public broadcaster Kan, one of the bills dropped from the agenda is a controversial Shas-backed proposal which seeks to grant the religious services minister the power to allocate additional funds to local religious councils around the country. Voting on the bill was already postponed more than once due to coalition infighting.
The coalition intends to try and pass the bill during the recess, the report says.
Prior to his announcement, the National Unity party called on Katz to remove all controversial legislation from the Knesset agenda, with MK Pnina Tamano-Shata stating that it was “unthinkable that while we are burying our dead, the Knesset will deal with patronage laws and political deals.”
Tomorrow’s plenum session is the final one of the current legislative session prior to the beginning of a three-month break on Monday. Over the past several days, lawmakers have rushed to pass a slew of last-minute bills before most parliamentary activity is put on hold until October 27.
