Knesset renews legislative procedure for referendum
Bill promoted by former MK Avigdor Yitzchaki passed first reading, but went into a state of freeze ahead of elections. Coalition-led procedure to be renewed in light of 'rule of continuity'
Knesset takes another step towards passing bill intended to create difficulties for a Golan Heights withdrawal. A joint committee of the Knesset House Committee and the Knesset Constitution Committee on Wednesday decided to push forward legislative procedures on a bill requiring a referendum in case Israel seeks to withdraw from its sovereign territories, including the Golan Heights.
Procedures will resume where they left off in the previous Knesset, which had already approved the bill in the first hearing. It was promoted by former Kadima Knesset members Avigdor Yitzchaki and David Tal. Seeing as the previous Knesset dispersed before the bill had officially been approved, the Knesset is now required to apply to it a procedure named "rule of continuity" that will enable to continue with the legislative procedure.
The joint committee headed by Coalition Chairman MK Zeev Elkin (Likud) gathered Wednesday and approved the motion submitted by collation Knesset members.
The bill will thus be subject to the MK's objections for a period of two weeks. This signifies that actual legislative procedures will commence after the summer recess, at the earliest. Applying the Rule of Continuity was previously approved by the Ministerial Committee on Legislative Affairs.
Meanwhile the Knesset Secretariat informed MK Danny Danon (Likud) on Tuesday that contrary to his request, "The Gilad Shalit Bill", seeking to toughen the conditions of imprisonment for members of terrorist organizations, shall not be brought to vote in the Knesset plenum Thursday.
A letter sent by the Secretariat to Danon stated that the Likud faction has allocated the quantity of bills eligible for vote to other issues.
