The Knesset yesterday voted overwhelmingly to abolish the direct election of the Prime Minister. There will no longer be separate elections for Prime Minister and for a Knesset party. Instead, the former method will be reinstated, whereby voters will cast only one vote - for a party - and the head of the party which receives the most votes will have a chance to form the next government. The billed was passed by a 72-37 margin.
The Knesset, by a sizable margin of 59-38, with 7 abstentions, also agreed yesterday to extend the status quo regarding yeshiva students\' draft deferral by two years. Shas and United Torah Judaism had threatened not to support the new government if a shorter extension had been approved. Full-time yeshiva students can now continue to defer their military induction by a year at a time. Two petitions have already been submitted to the Supreme Court against the legislation - by Shinui MK Yossi Paritzky, Atty. Yehuda Rassler, and the Hit\'orerut [Awakening] organization.
The first bill passed in the Knesset yesterday was the state budget, as prepared by former Finance Minister Avraham Shochat. The NIS 249 billion budget passed its first reading, and will now go to the Knesset Finance Committee where it will be prepared for its final readings. If the budget is not approved by March 31, new Knesset elections are automatic.
The Knesset, by a sizable margin of 59-38, with 7 abstentions, also agreed yesterday to extend the status quo regarding yeshiva students\' draft deferral by two years. Shas and United Torah Judaism had threatened not to support the new government if a shorter extension had been approved. Full-time yeshiva students can now continue to defer their military induction by a year at a time. Two petitions have already been submitted to the Supreme Court against the legislation - by Shinui MK Yossi Paritzky, Atty. Yehuda Rassler, and the Hit\'orerut [Awakening] organization.
The first bill passed in the Knesset yesterday was the state budget, as prepared by former Finance Minister Avraham Shochat. The NIS 249 billion budget passed its first reading, and will now go to the Knesset Finance Committee where it will be prepared for its final readings. If the budget is not approved by March 31, new Knesset elections are automatic.