MKs pass 1st reading of bill obligating every government to formulate national security strategy

Lawmakers vote 34-0 to approve the first reading of a bill obligating every Israeli government to formulate a national security strategy.

The bipartisan bill — sponsored by former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot and Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein (Likud) — would require the National Security Council to formulate a national security strategy in consultation with the ministries of foreign affairs and defense, intelligence agencies and other relevant government bureaus.

Edelstein currently serves as the chairman of the powerful Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Eisenkot is a former IDF chief of staff who previously served as a non-voting observer in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s now-defunct war cabinet.

In its explanatory notes, Edelstein and Eisenkot assert that a lack of an explicit security doctrine in favor of unwritten rules has damaged the country’s preparations and readiness in the face of threats, paving the way for the events of October 7, 2023.

The proposed strategy document — which would have to be approved by the government within 150 days of its formulation and be updated regularly — would identify Israel’s national security challenges and establish its strategic goals, and provide a “critical assessment” of the country’s existing national security strategy.