PM Netanyahu’s request for second postponement on override power bill vote denied by Justice Minister Shaked; Netanyahu will not veto vote, Likud source says; following committee ratification, bill will go to 1st reading in Knesset.
The override power will go up to a vote in the Ministerial Legislation Committee Sunday despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to postpone it by another week in order to hold further talks on the matter with his coalition partners.
The vote had already been postponed once last week, following Prime Minister Netanyahu’s meeting with Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut.
A Likud source estimated Netanyahu will not veto the vote, saying, “Netanyahu is sponsoring the law himself and asked for the postponement only to rope in all coalition members and present the bill with wall-to-wall governmental support.”
The override power initiative became a top priority for nationalist lawmakers following uncertainty over the fate of illegal African migrants in the aftermath of a series of failed deals for their deportation. Initially floated as a possible remedy for the crisis, the power is intended to limit the High Court of Justice’s ability to strike down Knesset laws by passing them again with a preordained significant majority of MKs.
“It seems the only ones harming the chances of the bill’s passage are those who can’t rein in the impulse to make another headline and rake in some political capital,” the source added.
When the override power bill is approved in the ministerial committee, it will go up to the Knesset Plenum for a first reading vote.
Netanyahu contacted Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked over the weekend asking to delay the vote. A source close to Shaked said it will take place as planned, as did Bayit Yehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett, who announced no postponement will be made.
“We’ll be bringing the override power to a vote this coming Sunday, and are expecting the prime minister’s support,” Bennett tweeted.
Debate between coalition partners centers around the number of lawmakers needed to recertify a bill struck down by the court. While Bennett and Shaked stuck to their demand of a 61 MK majority, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and Chief Justice Hayut maintained a 70 MK majority was needed.
The Ministerial Legislation Committee’s itinerary showed it will be voting on three privately-sponsored bills on the matter, all by Bayit Yehudi parliamentarians—Nissan Slomiansky, Motti Yogev and Bezalel Smotrich.
As reported Ynetnews