The committee deliberations were canceled and the Knesset plenum will convene at noon for an intensive day of legislation until the dissolution of the Knesset in the second and third readings. Last night, agreements were reached between coalition chairman Boaz Toporovsky and opposition representative Yoav Kish regarding advancing a series of laws before the Knesset was dissolved, increasing party funding and lowering the anti-Netanyahu legislative agenda. While the coalition is demanding a November 1 near the date of Rabin’s assassination, the opposition prefers to stay away from this and demand that elections be held on October 25, so yeshiva students will also be on leave and will assist the right-wing parties in operating today.
● Agreements have been reached: the Knesset will be dissolved on Wednesday, the defendant’s law will not go up
● Military operations, salary agreements and senior appointments: The ombudsmen will determine the rules of the game
Due to the controversy over the election date, the opposition refuses to approve two critical laws for the coalition: the Metro Law on second and third reading and the Entry into Israel Law required to continue the US visa exemption project. Among other things, demands and adjustments in Israeli legislation, but now this law, which can bring Israel a little closer to achieving the goal, has been taken hostage by the Likud until there is a future to approve the requested date.
Another law that was already at the heart of the controversy yesterday is the Metro Law of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transportation. Lieberman’s men walked around the Mishkan last night in an attempt to push the law at the last minute to the draft agreements but without success. At first they were told that the ultra-Orthodox are the ones who oppose the law, but in practice it is again a law that will get the consent of the opposition only if the coalition compromises on the desired election date. Another internal coalition dispute is between Communications Minister Yoaz Handel and the coalition administration, which approved MK Moshe Arbel’s promotion of the kosher lines law on first reading, contrary to his opinion.
Handel tweeted this morning that “the agreements with Deri (which should be out of politics) on a law that prevents the ultra-Orthodox from mobilizing numbers are a shame for a government that did well during its tenure. Shame on the Likud and Shas who work for the monopoly of activists, and against the public. This is just one call and the ultra-Orthodox will have the option of mobile numbers in a month. “
Also on the list of agreed laws that the Knesset will vote on today: the Shaked alternative to NAP 38, the Minister of Housing’s Sale Law, the Compensation Law for Business Owners at Omicron, the Compensation for National Disaster Victims Law, the Economic Competition Law and dozens of other laws that will pass for the next Knesset. And the initiator will not be required to start work on them from the beginning.
Tomorrow until midnight, the Knesset Dispersal Law will pass, along with the Party Financing Law, which has also been updated at the request of parties in the coalition and the Likud. Instead of each financing unit standing at NIS 1.4 million, its value will increase to 1.66 and the repayment spread will increase from 36 months to 52 months. As has happened in each of the recent election campaigns due to their proximity the parties have asked for more budget to fund the campaigns while they have not yet had time to pay their previous loans to the Knesset. Finance Minister Lieberman estimated yesterday that the cost of the election campaign will be NIS 2.4 billion.
“The Knesset itself does not respect a law that it itself enacted”
In a discussion held in the tension committee, MK Haim Avidor criticized the demand for funding ahead of the election. “Today there are 20 million lost debts to the Knesset due to 3 parties that failed to pass the blocking percentage and the risk is growing. A detoxification process is required and one must enter into a routine of lowering the amount of payments and not leave them at 52.” The chairwoman of the public committee on party funding, Judge Ayala Forkacha, also criticized the urgency of approving the law and said of the decision to add NIS 35 million to the funding units: “There is a phenomenon here that the Knesset itself does not respect a law it enacted. “Because when it enacted the establishment of a public committee, it should let it work and as soon as it bypasses it, it violates a law that it enacted.”
MK David Bitan, who is leading the issue on behalf of the Likud, said, “We are in an election loop, including the municipal elections. The state does not allow the party to accept donations, and on the other hand the existing funding units are not enough, so in this situation we have no choice but to fund the election through the state and refinance the loans. If the law remains as it is, no doubt will agree to work with us. There were elections that we approved additional funding for the Labor parties and Meretz, it is not a political matter. Today the Likud situation is difficult and there are debts. That fact must be taken into account. “
In contrast to the support of the smaller parties in a coalition such as Meretz and the Labor Party, the Yisrael Beiteinu party expressed opposition to raising the funding unit. MK Yevgeny Soba said, “Yisrael Beiteinu strongly opposes the law and we call on all our members in the coalition to oppose it.” Bitan criticized the parties that refuse to raise the funding unit and said: