The Knesset has not been in such a bizarre situation for as
long as anyone can remember. Although the Labor Party reached
an agreement with the Likud to join the coalition, in
practice it has not yet joined. Therefore it is acting like a
fence-sitter, neither voting for the government nor against,
as if the party were not a part of the Knesset. Not in the
coalition, yet not in the opposition either. And when some 20
MKs are neither here nor there the Knesset is almost totally
paralyzed.
To finally get the 2005 budget passed in a first reading the
Prime Minister and the Finance Minister asked Labor to back
the budget in accordance with the coalition agreement between
them, but Labor refused because officially the party has yet
to join the coalition. Meanwhile the clock keeps ticking
away. The budget should have passed second and third readings
last week, but January is already here and the budget has not
yet passed even a first reading.
Such a situation is unheard of. There have been cases in
which the budget was not passed on time in second and third
readings, but the present delay sets a dangerous precedent.
The reason for the holdup is the need to change the
Government Foundation Law to allow Shimon Peres to be
appointed a second deputy prime minister alongside Ehud
Olmert. And changing the law takes time.
When the Likud Center approved bringing the addition of Labor
and the chareidi parties into the coalition Sharon assumed he
would be able to set up a new coalition within a matter of
days, but several weeks have already gone by since then. The
Foundation Law is expected to pass any day now but the new
government will not be presented to the Knesset until
everything is in place.
Shimon Peres did not hide his displeasure over the red tape
involved in amending the Foundation Law. Though Sharon is not
responsible for this red tape as far as Peres and the Labor
Party are concerned Sharon, Michael Eitan (who is in charge
of the matter) and the rest are all one and the
same—the Likud.
Meanwhile Labor is troubled by rumors the Likud is seizing
the opportunity to execute changes in ministries it expects
to receive. Making appointments, handing out funds, etc.
Peres, whose patience is already spent and whose heart yearns
to take a seat in the government once again, sounded bitter
recently. "This cannot go on for long. We cannot remain
neither in the coalition nor the opposition. This situation
is absurd."
The Barak Law
As soon as he left his post as Minister and returned to the
opposition bench MK Ilan Shalgi tabled a bill to extend
judges' tenure to the age of 72 instead of the current legal
age limit of 70.
The bill appears perfectly innocent at first. All the man
wants is to give judges another two years on the bench. In
the explanatory material Shalgi contends since the Knesset
raised the retirement age from 65 to 67 for men and even more
for women the retirement age for judges should be raised as
well, especially since septuagenarian judges are still at
their peak.
But Shalgi's proposal is not innocent in the least. Just over
a year from now High Court President Judge Aharon Barak is
expected to reach the age of 70 and to head home. To Shinui,
Barak is a god and the proposed legislation is intended to
grant him another two years on the bench. In the first stage
at least.
Meanwhile Coalition Chairman Gidon Saar is trying to
introduce a bit of common sense into the matter of appointing
judges. High Court judges have wide-reaching authority and
enormous influence on day-to-day life in the State of Israel,
sometimes much more than an MK or minister. And unlike MKs
and ministers who must be elected by thousands of voters, a
judge is selected by as few as 5 backers during closed-door
meetings of the Judicial Selection Committee.
Therefore Saar submitted a bill that would require an large
majority, i.e. at least 7 of the 9 committee members, which
would reduce the ability to guarantee the appointment of a
certain candidate by forming a block that rejects every other
candidate.
