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Former IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi
Photo: IDF spokesman
Kadima Knesset Member Yoel Hasson
Photo: Noam Moskowitz

Kadima fights for 'Ashkenazi bill'

MK Hasson requests second debate on bill to shorten cooling-off period for military figures entering politics; says 'Ashkenazi should be a part of the public system'

Not giving up on Ashkenazi: The Kadima party continues its efforts to change the law in order to enable former IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi to run for the next Knesset. Knesset Member Yoel Hasson approached Justice Minister and Ministerial Committee on Legislation Chairman Yaakov Ne'eman on Monday to request a second discussion on the so-called "Ashkenazi bill".

 

The bill - which would cut the cooling-off period for military figures entering politics to a year and a half - fell unanimously in the ministerial committee on legislation a few weeks ago.

 

As of now, according to the so-called Halutz Law, IDF officers with a rank of major-general and lieutenant-general, and senior officials in the Shin Bet, Mossad, Israel Police and Prisons Service with a rank equivalent to major-general or above, must wait three years before contending for a seat in the Knesset. Before the law named after former IDF chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Dan Halutz was passed four years ago, they only had to wait six months.

 

In a letter sent to Ne'eman on Monday Hasson wrote: "The amendment to the law which extended the cooling-off period to three years has imposed unbalanced restrictions on heads of security forces, which hinders their democratic right to be elected to the Knesset as ordinary citizens in comparison to other functionaries in the public and private services."

 

According to Hasson, "In no other public sector has such a long cooling-off period been imposed, and this created severe discrimination against members of the security forces. Any attempt to block the integration of senior defense officials into the political arena in a disproportional way is unjust and unsuitable."

 

Politicians in Israel are split over Ashkenazi's future and his right to join the political scene in the near future.

 

President Shimon Peres has expressed his opposition to the Halutz Law on several occasions, saying "those who are trusted to lead the IDF and the security establishment should be trusted not to let political considerations interfere with their work before they step down.

 

"It would be a shame to lose a man such as Ashkenazi, who has many capabilities and leadership skills. Ashkenazi should be a part of the public system," said Peres.

 

Referring to Peres' statement, Hasson wrote, "We cannot ignore what was said by President Shimon Peres… It's the opinion of the highest rank and it must be taken into consideration."

 

Hasson stressed that "this bill to aims to cut the waiting period to a year and a half, so as to create the proper balance between public interest and the independent character of the defense systems and the democratic right of security officials to get elected to the Knesset."

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 02.21.11, 12:27
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