President Moshe Katzav called this morning for a low-budget election campaign, and asked that it be short, clean and issues-centered. Knesset Speaker MK Avraham Burg (Labor) and Justice Committee Chairman MK Michael Eitan (Likud) also said they would work together to pass legislation to limit campaign expenses.
MK Eitan told Arutz-7 today that the Law Committee will convene tomorrow for the purpose of passing laws restricting election spending. "We will try to legislate understandings I had with [Labor MK Ophir] Pines to have a very modest election campaign," he said. "We will be very tough on these laws, and the party leaders themselves will be responsible for their parties' over-spending." Speaker Burg similarly said that the last thing Israel needs now is a wasteful election campaign.
It was originally thought that the election would be held on Feb. 4, but Speaker Burg noted that this would clash with the Gregorian calendar anniversary of the 1997 “helicopter disaster.” Seventy-three IDF soldiers were killed at the time in a mid-air collision of two troop transports over northern Israel. Burg also said he would not allow the national budget to become a victim of the political situation, and that he would ensure that the budget vote proceeds speedily, smoothly and without undue political disruptions. The Chairmen of the Finance and Knesset Committees also agreed today that work on the budget would be completed by the end of December, and that the Knesset would then recess until after the elections.
Much work remains for the parties before the election - and less than three months in which to do it. The main parties must choose their leaders; the Labor primaries are scheduled for Nov. 19, while the Likud has not yet scheduled its election. The smaller parties must decide with which other parties they will unite or merely run together. Tekumah, Moledet, Yisrael Beiteinu, and the National Religious Party, for instance, have been discussing a merger for a while. All the parties will have to draft lists of candidates for the Knesset, which must be submitted within 45 days.
MK Eitan told Arutz-7 today that the Law Committee will convene tomorrow for the purpose of passing laws restricting election spending. "We will try to legislate understandings I had with [Labor MK Ophir] Pines to have a very modest election campaign," he said. "We will be very tough on these laws, and the party leaders themselves will be responsible for their parties' over-spending." Speaker Burg similarly said that the last thing Israel needs now is a wasteful election campaign.
It was originally thought that the election would be held on Feb. 4, but Speaker Burg noted that this would clash with the Gregorian calendar anniversary of the 1997 “helicopter disaster.” Seventy-three IDF soldiers were killed at the time in a mid-air collision of two troop transports over northern Israel. Burg also said he would not allow the national budget to become a victim of the political situation, and that he would ensure that the budget vote proceeds speedily, smoothly and without undue political disruptions. The Chairmen of the Finance and Knesset Committees also agreed today that work on the budget would be completed by the end of December, and that the Knesset would then recess until after the elections.
Much work remains for the parties before the election - and less than three months in which to do it. The main parties must choose their leaders; the Labor primaries are scheduled for Nov. 19, while the Likud has not yet scheduled its election. The smaller parties must decide with which other parties they will unite or merely run together. Tekumah, Moledet, Yisrael Beiteinu, and the National Religious Party, for instance, have been discussing a merger for a while. All the parties will have to draft lists of candidates for the Knesset, which must be submitted within 45 days.