Gantz: The state cannot be run without a functioning Knesset

Blue and White chair Benny Gantz demands that the appropriate Knesset committees be set up immediately to oversee government decisions to fight the coronavirus.

“We are in an exceptional period where, unfortunately, it is necessary to take exceptional measures to save lives,” Gantz says on Twitter. “However, it is forbidden to do so as a power grab and without supervision.”

Israel’s caretaker government today amended and unanimously approved a measure allowing security services to deploy advanced digital monitoring tools in an effort track carriers of the coronavirus, removing many of the safeguards and oversights that officials had said would be put into place to address widespread privacy concerns about the initiative.

“Blue and White will insist that the Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as a special committee on the coronavirus, the Finance Committee and other committees, be set up today to monitor the processes and approve required regulations at this time,” Gantz says.

“The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee must receive all the information about the surveillance procedures approved today. That’s the way it is in democracy,” he adds.

“We will not allow the state to run without a functioning Knesset during an emergency.”

— Raoul Wootliff