{"id":71830,"date":"2026-05-15T02:09:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T02:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/71830\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T02:09:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T02:09:17","slug":"coalition-pushes-to-fast-track-controversial-laws-ahead-of-knesset-dissolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/71830\/","title":{"rendered":"Coalition pushes to fast-track controversial laws ahead of Knesset dissolution"},"content":{"rendered":"

The coalition has scheduled to fast-track controversial legislation ahead of the potential passage of the bill to dissolve the Knesset<\/a>, which was submitted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s coalition late on Wednesday night in a move that could bring the election date forward from October 27.<\/p>\n

The tensions come after the crisis in Netanyahu\u2019s coalition with the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties over the controversial conscription law.<\/p>\n

Amid the push to advance controversial legislation, it was reported that the Prime Minister\u2019s Office was advancing a five-year plan for the haredi community that is expected to transfer billions of shekels to the sector while entrenching the policy for many years, according to a Thursday Kan News report.<\/p>\n

The report stated that 25% of the Education Ministry\u2019s construction budget would be allocated to haredi educational institutions, while NIS 44 million would be transferred annually to a \u201cdropout prevention\u201d program aimed at preventing enlistment in the IDF<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The intention would be to bring the plan for government approval before the vote on dissolving the Knesset, as the ability to approve it becomes more limited afterward, the report added.<\/p>\n

\"OppositionOpposition lawmakers seen at the Knesset, October 27, 2025 (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM\/THE JERUSALEM POST)<\/p>\n

The Finance Ministry said that \u201cit was not familiar with the matter\u201d when asked about the plan by The Jerusalem Post.<\/p>\n

The Education Ministry and a spokesperson from the Prime Minister\u2019s Office did not respond to the Post\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n

Dr. Assaf Shapira, an expert at the Israel Democracy Institute and head of the Political Reform Program, spoke to the Post on Thursday about the implications of the coalition submitting the Knesset dissolution bill, explaining how it would affect coalition legislation and some political considerations.<\/p>\n

Shapira explained that the bill being submitted by Netanyahu\u2019s coalition, rather than the opposition, grants the government greater control over the process of dissolving the Knesset<\/a> and determining the election date, though the difference is \u201cnot hugely significant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shapira said the bill could be passed very quickly if the coalition wants to move fast, though the process could also be slowed down depending on Netanyahu\u2019s political considerations.<\/p>\n

Shapira added that there was also a framing element behind the coalition\u2019s decision to advance its own dissolution bill, as it would politically appear better for Netanyahu to bring the legislation forward himself rather than have it pass through the opposition with support from the haredi parties.<\/p>\n

The fight over the election date is largely seen as due to the haredi parties reportedly pushing for September elections. Netanyahu, however, is reportedly seeking them at the end of October as planned, which would grant the government more time to advance its legislation.<\/p>\n

Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee chairman MK Simcha Rothman has accelerated discussions on the contentious bill to split the role of Israel\u2019s attorney-general into three different positions, scheduling more discussions next week, a Knesset spokesperson confirmed to the Post.<\/p>\n

There are also marathon meetings scheduled on the controversial communications reform bill, which calls for sweeping reforms to Israel\u2019s broadcasting sector.<\/p>\n

Shapira said that, typically, after the Knesset dissolution bill passes, legislative advancement is halted, though there is some flexibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cStopping controversial legislation during election periods, that\u2019s mostly a very established custom,\u201d Shapira said. \u201cThe Knesset\u2019s legal adviser has also said that\u2019s how things should work. But it\u2019s not formally anchored in law.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo the question is whether the coalition will nevertheless try to continue legislating during the election period.\u201d<\/p>\n

The haredi parties<\/a> have reportedly been pushing for an earlier election date that better aligns with the High Holy Days and increases turnout among haredi voters.<\/p>\n

Haredi parties’ considerations regarding election date.<\/p>\n

Shapira also addressed reports about the considerations haredi parties have regarding the election date.<\/p>\n

\u201cElections are almost always on Tuesdays. So, people are talking about September 1 [as a major date for consideration]. The following week is already very close to Rosh Hashanah, so that probably won\u2019t happen. Then there\u2019s September 15, but that\u2019s already close to Yom Kippur and Sukkot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the holiday season, most ultra-Orthodox Israelis are in the country, except if it\u2019s too close to Rosh Hashanah, because some travel to Uman. Small logistical considerations like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

He noted that there shouldn\u2019t \u201cbe too much weight given\u201d to the matter of moving up the elections, because, in practice, the difference would be a matter of a few weeks. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about October or September,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Elections could not be held in August since 90 days are required to have passed from the time the bill is approved.<\/p>\n

Shapira also noted that both Netanyahu and the haredi parties benefit from the drama of the Knesset dissolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ultra-Orthodox parties can show they\u2019re standing their ground, and Netanyahu can show he\u2019s not surrendering to them. It works politically for both sides,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The coalition has scheduled to fast-track controversial legislation ahead of the potential passage of the bill to dissolve…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16469],"tags":[244,1062,1065,39686,22108,18016],"class_list":{"0":"post-71830","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-benjamin-netanyahu","8":"tag-benjamin-netanyahu","9":"tag-budget","10":"tag-elections","11":"tag-haredi","12":"tag-haredi-draft","13":"tag-knesset"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116576162142510252","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}