Eisenkot Bloc Plans to Repeal 5 Netanyahu Laws Before Power Shift
(MENAFN) Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot and his allies are preparing to overturn five landmark laws enacted under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an effort to undo central pieces of his legislative program before a new government is sworn in, local media reported Wednesday.
Bloc leaders have agreed to set up dedicated parliamentary committees to push the repeals forward in parallel, an Israeli daily newspaper reported. The Democrats party, headed by Yair Golan, is expected to chair most of them.
The campaign targets laws that critics say gave politicians greater sway over independent institutions and loosened constraints on executive power.
Judiciary and legal oversight
A single committee would handle two laws touching the courts and the government’s legal machinery.
The first overhauled the makeup of the Judicial Selection Committee. It removed the two Israel Bar Association representatives and put in their place legal professionals picked by the ruling coalition and the opposition. Critics said the change deepened political influence over who becomes a judge.
The second divided the attorney general’s duties between a government legal adviser and a chief prosecutor. It also expanded the government’s power to appoint and fire that legal adviser, and let ministers reject legal opinions or hire outside counsel.
Police investigations unit
A second committee would work to reverse changes to the unit that investigates suspected offenses by police officers. The law took the unit out of direct supervision by professional prosecutors and gave the justice minister considerable say over who directs it. Opponents warned the changes could politicize investigations and erode the unit’s independence.
Media law
A third panel would take on the media law, which scrapped limits on a single owner controlling both television channels and newspapers. It also eliminated the institutional wall between newsrooms and their owners’ business interests.
The law further created official audience measurements to steer government advertising spending, a mechanism critics said could reward broadcasters friendly to the government.
Prime minister’s fitness for office
A fourth committee would seek to repeal the amendment that restricts the grounds for declaring a prime minister unfit to physical or mental incapacity. Opponents argued it was designed to shield Netanyahu during his corruption trial. The Supreme Court delayed its application until the next Knesset, rather than letting it take effect in the parliamentary term in which it passed.
Bloc leaders have agreed to set up dedicated parliamentary committees to push the repeals forward in parallel, an Israeli daily newspaper reported. The Democrats party, headed by Yair Golan, is expected to chair most of them.
The campaign targets laws that critics say gave politicians greater sway over independent institutions and loosened constraints on executive power.
Judiciary and legal oversight
A single committee would handle two laws touching the courts and the government’s legal machinery.
The first overhauled the makeup of the Judicial Selection Committee. It removed the two Israel Bar Association representatives and put in their place legal professionals picked by the ruling coalition and the opposition. Critics said the change deepened political influence over who becomes a judge.
The second divided the attorney general’s duties between a government legal adviser and a chief prosecutor. It also expanded the government’s power to appoint and fire that legal adviser, and let ministers reject legal opinions or hire outside counsel.
Police investigations unit
A second committee would work to reverse changes to the unit that investigates suspected offenses by police officers. The law took the unit out of direct supervision by professional prosecutors and gave the justice minister considerable say over who directs it. Opponents warned the changes could politicize investigations and erode the unit’s independence.
Media law
A third panel would take on the media law, which scrapped limits on a single owner controlling both television channels and newspapers. It also eliminated the institutional wall between newsrooms and their owners’ business interests.
The law further created official audience measurements to steer government advertising spending, a mechanism critics said could reward broadcasters friendly to the government.
Prime minister’s fitness for office
A fourth committee would seek to repeal the amendment that restricts the grounds for declaring a prime minister unfit to physical or mental incapacity. Opponents argued it was designed to shield Netanyahu during his corruption trial. The Supreme Court delayed its application until the next Knesset, rather than letting it take effect in the parliamentary term in which it passed.
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