dpa
Tel Aviv
The far-right government of Israeli prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed through a highly controversial amendment before being officially sworn in on Thursday.
After hours of debate, 63 of the 120 parliamentarians voted in favour and 55 against the amendment on Tuesday
morning.
The amendment is intended to allow Arie Deri, leader of the religious Shas party, to become interior minister despite a conviction for tax offences. It will also allow Bezalel Smotrich of the Religious Zionist Party to hold a ministerial post in the Defence Ministry in addition to that of Finance Minister.
Smotrich is considered an ardent supporter of settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. He is also to be given influence over the administration of the West Bank and the lives of Palestinians.
The government wants to pass another amendment that would expand the powers of the national security minister to include not only the police but also the border police in the West Bank. The far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir is to be given the post.
In view of the changes, outgoing Defence Minister Benny Gantz warned against a further escalation of violence and bloodshed in the region.
After his election victory on November 1, Netanyahu succeeded in forming a far-right religious coalition. His government plans wide-reaching legislative changes and a targeted weakening of the judicial system. According to experts, the changes could also lead to a scrapping of the ongoing corruption trial against
Netanyahu.
Israel’s outgoing prime minister, Yair Lapid, said after the legal changes so far that the new government had already proven to be “the most corrupt ever” even before it was sworn in.
