Ministers back bill setting term limits for PMs

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation unanimously approves a bill setting term limits on the premiership.

Now with government backing, the proposal — which would limit prime ministers to eight years in office — must clear three Knesset plenum readings before becoming law.

Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar, the bill’s sponsor, hails the vote.

“Term limits (instead of a term with limits) are an important principle at the foundation of the perception that the government works for the wellbeing of the citizens instead of itself and its survival,” Sa’ar writes on Facebook.

If passed into law, the bill will not be retroactive and thus not bar former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu from running to regain the premiership.

Sa’ar is also seeking to advance legislation that would prevent anyone under serious indictment from forming a government, which would apply to Netanyahu. The ex-premier is under indictment in a trio of graft cases. He denies wrongdoing.