Knesset legal adviser calls for plenary resumption as soon as possible

The Knesset’s legal adviser indicated that Speaker Yuli Edelstein would not be able to continue his closure of the plenary into next week.

Earlier today, Edelstein ordered the Knesset shut after the Blue and White party refused his proposal of having equal representation in the Knesset’s so-called Arrangements Committee, which is tasked with overseeing the formation and operation of the parliament, as the Likud-led coalition garnered 59 seats in this month’s election to the Blue and White’s coalition’s 61.

Among other things, the Arrangement’s Committee oversees the creation of the Knesset’s other committees, including those that would provide parliamentary oversight to the government’s efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic. The committee could also allow the Blue and White party to call for a vote on the position of Knesset speaker, which would likely result in Edelstein’s ouster from the position that he’s held since 2013, leading critics to accuse him of subverting the will of the majority of the country.

The Arrangements Committee is typically formed under an agreement between the Knesset’s parties, but the parliament’s legal adviser Eyal Yanon says if it is not formed by the beginning of next week, the matter ought to be brought before the plenary for a vote, which Edelstein’s Likud party will likely lose.

“Form the Arrangement Committee as quickly as possible. If it is not given power by the beginning of next week, there will be a need to place the choice of [who sits in] the Arrangements Committee on the docket of the Knesset without further delay,” Yanon writes in a legal opinion.