Israel Knesset, Rabbi law, Draft law, controversy

This Week in the Knesset: Controversial Bill Returns to the Plenary

The controversial "Rabbis' Law" is expected to return to the Knesset plenary this week in another attempt by Shas to pass it despite opposition from the Otzma Yehudit party. Additionally, the plenary will convene for a "25 Signatures Discussion" initiated by the opposition in response to the security situation in the north.

Israeli Knesset (Photo: Roman Yanushevsky/Shutterstock)

The Knesset will meet this week unusually during the recess to approve several laws that had not been completed before the end of the summer session last week. In addition, the plenary will hold the "25 Signatures Discussion" initiated by the opposition. During the recess, the controversial bill and the discussion initiated by the opposition will be addressed.

One of the bills likely to be on the agenda is Shas’s "Rabbis' Law," which has been renamed "Jewish Religious Services Law." This time, the bill’s approval remains uncertain due to Itamar Ben-Gvir's negotiations over his entry into a small war cabinet and his statement that as long as his demands are not met, he and his party members will not vote for the controversial bill. The coalition is also expected to approve several other laws with broad consensus during the week.

Furthermore, the Knesset will convene for the 25 Signatures Discussion initiated by the opposition. MK Oded Forer from Yisrael Beiteinu collected 25 signatures from MKs calling on the Knesset Speaker to hold an urgent discussion requiring the government to address the security and social situation of northern residents following the escalation. It should be noted that if 25 signatures are collected, the Knesset Speaker is required to schedule a discussion in the plenary even during recess.

**Discussions on the Recruitment Law Continue**

Simultaneously, committee discussions continue regularly during the recess. One committee currently holding the most intense discussions is the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, chaired by MK Yuli Edelstein, where members are debating the recruitment law, which is at the heart of public controversy these days.

Committee Chairman MK Simcha Rothman addressed the important discussion, stating: "Imposing sanctions on Israeli citizens by foreign countries, especially when it involves people who have not committed crimes, or even if they have been judged, harms the state’s sovereignty in the criminal process and the constitutional duty of the State of Israel to protect its citizens."

He added: "The discussion in the Constitution Committee, which was conducted in collaboration and at the initiative of the Land of Israel Lobby led by myself, MK Yuli Edelstein, and MK Limor Son Har-Melech, aims to examine how the state is dealing with the expansion of sanctions, the sovereignty harm it creates, and what measures are being taken. This is to ensure that sanctions are not expanded and that Israeli citizens are not abandoned to the whims of anarchist organizations that incite the world against them."

IDF Knesset Itamar Ben-Gvir Shas Otzma Yehudit Draft Israel at war Israel

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