The Knesset advanced a bill for final approval on Tuesday that would limit any future prime minister to no more than 8 years in power.
The bill — tabled by Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar — will return to parliament for its second and third reading to be passed into law, despite some criticizing it as personally targeting opposition leader and former premier Benjamin Netanyahu — Israel's longest-serving prime minister who has served a total of 15 as head of the Cabinet over two non-successive terms.
The bill would force a prime minister to step down after eight years in power, or, alternately, after serving two terms that followed two elections. However, the eight-term limit would not apply retroactively, meaning Netanyahu could return to power.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu's Likud Party denounced the bill, claiming it is nothing more than an effort to prevent the former prime minister from regaining leadership.
Netanyahu was ousted last June by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's current government after 12 years.
Sa'ar is also working on a bill that would rule out anyone indicted for a crime that comes with a minimum three-year sentence and moral turpitude as from becoming the leader of the country, which would apply to Netanyahu, who's currently on trial for breach of trust and fraud in three separate cases for which he was indicted in 2019.
He has denied any wrongdoing and accused prosecutors of colluding with allies in media, law enforcement and the political system to carry out a politically motivated witch-hunt in order to oust him from power.