The Knesset's temporary Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, headed by Member of Knesset Avi Dichter (Likud), unanimously decided Monday to recommend to the Knesset plenum to re-declare the state of emergency - declared within days of Israeli independence in May 1948 - until October 12,
The government decided a month ago to propose to the Knesset to declare the state of emergency for another period of one year. However, as long as the members of the Knesset committees are not elected, Article 69 (g) of the Knesset Rules of Procedure states that the period of declaring the state of emergency under these circumstances shall not exceed four months from the date of the declaration. Dichter is recommending that the committee reconvene in the present Knesset to ensure that the emergency situation does not expire due to the timetable dictated by the Jewish holidays and the elections to the 22nd Knesset.