The public will be able to follow debates in the Israeli Knesset live on the Internet, starting in about three months' time. The Knesset will unveil its new website after the holidays, Knesset Spokesman Yotam Yakir said Thursday.
The new website will carry debates from all Knesset committees live, with the exception of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, which deliberates behind closed doors.
In addition, the new site will include a complete legislation database that will include Israel's entire legal code, as well as a project dubbed Anan Hacham ("Smart Cloud") that will offer online information on the status of bills in legislation, as well as video on demand of Knesset debates, in both plenum and committees.
Yakir said the new website will be news-oriented, unlike the present website. He said its design was influenced by leading parliamentary sites like those of Britain, Germany and New Zealand.
He acknowledged that live broadcasts currently transmitted from the Knesset suffer from technical problems and explained that the new site would also take time to function optimally. "We are talking about live broadcasts at an unprecedented volume," he said.
Yakir spoke at a study day for parliamentary aides sponsored by the Israeli Internet Federation.