Members of the Jewish Home faction said Wednesday that they intend to take “harsh measures” against the coalition if the so-called “Slomiansky bill” is not voted into effect before the Knesset begins its late summer recess July, according to Ynet.
The bill is intended to enable former MK Nissan Slomiansky to enter the Knesset. It specifies that a Knesset Member who is also a government minister will be allowed to resign from the Knesset for the period in which he serves as a minister. During this period, his seat in the Knesset will be filled by the next-in-line on the party’s Knesset list. If and when the minister ceases serving in the government, he will immediately regain his Knesset seat.
Slomiansky was in the fourth slot on the Jewish Home ticket in the elections for the 18th Knesset, but the party only received three seats. The bill is also named the Norwegian Law – after a similar law that exists in the Scandinavian country. Its passage was part of the coalition agreement between Likud and the Jewish Home, and it has already passed in the first reading.
Shas, however, wants the law amended so that the minister who leaves his seat will be able to return to it at any point, even without leaving the government. Members of the Jewish Home told Ynet that this request is “a blatant deviation” from the agreement reached when the coalition was formed and that it could cause indefinite postponement of the law’s passage.
“We do not want to leave the coalition, but if the bill is not approved as we agreed, this is an obvious breach of agreements and it is clear that we will have to take various, severe measures against the coalition, even if we do not imediately leave the government.”
Sources in Shas said that their proposed amendment “strengthens the government’s ability to appoint ministers, and makes it possible for the minister to return to the Knesset at any time, a thing which will enable the minister to function in a better way.”