JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Israel’s Knesset passed the controversial expanded Norwegian Law Monday evening, meaning that more ministers can resign their Knesset seats in favor of other party members. The motion passed by a majority of 67 to 23.
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Originally Prime Minister Netanyahu had sought to postpone the vote but Blue and White voiced their dismay and succeeded in persuading the prime minister to present the law.
The new law will enable ministers or deputy ministers to quit the Knesset and be replaced by the next candidates on their party’s list. The ministers and deputies could return to the Knesset if they quit their posts. Blue and White desperately wanted to pass the bill, because 12 of their 15 MKs are ministers, and the party has not had enough MKs to do parliamentary work in the Knesset.
New MKs in factions that have split will have 24 hours to decide which one to join. The bill could allow candidates of Yesh Atid and Telem, which are in the opposition, to instead join Blue and White in the coalition.
In United Torah Judaism, former MK Yitzhak Pindrus will return to the Knesset after he failed to gain a seat during the last elections. If the deputy ministers also resign their seats, Eliyahu Chasid and Eliyahu Bruchi will take their places in the Knesset.
Three Shas deputy ministers are expected to quit in favor of the next names on the party’s list: Uriel Busso, French immigrant Rabbi Yossi Taieb and Ethiopian immigrant Rabbi Baruch Gazahi.
In the Likud, former MKs Ariel Kellner and Osnat Mark are set to return to the Knesset.
Only 12 of 15 MK are ministers? How many mini-ministries do they have nowadays? Seems like everyone is a minister.
All they did was expand the law as it was first passed in 2015, now they expanded to allow multiple ministers to resign and be replaced instead of just one per party.