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The Newsletter of the Israel Policy Center
Volume III Issue 3.... 1 Tamuz 5768 / July 4, 2008
 Significant Constitutional Legislation Appears Ensured of Passage
Amendment Giving Government Veto Over Supreme Court Appointments Passes First Reading
A private bill sponsored by MK Gideon Saar, chairman of the Likud faction in the Knesset and one of the house’s most skilled parliamentarians, passed its first reading on Tuesday, June 24th. The bill provides that appointments to the Supreme Court require a majority of seven out of nine members of the Judicial Appointments Committee. If the bill becomes law, it will give the government a veto over appointments to Israel’s highest court, the most significant change in the balance of power between the branches of Israel’s government since the current system of judicial appointments was put in place in 1953. more...
 Draft Legislation that Deserves to Fail
Moshe Koppel
Two draft laws that recently passed a first reading in the Knesset are illustrations of how good intentions on the part of short-sighted legislators can lead to bad law, if not catastrophe.
The more benign of the two is a law proposed by MK Gideon Saar of Likud. It requires a majority of 80 MKs for ratification of an agreement ceding Israeli sovereignty on the Golan. While the intention of such legislation is entirely agreeable, the foolishness lies in the fact that the law itself can be, and almost certainly will be passed with the support of far fewer than 80 MKs. The theoretical possibility of a small number of MKs requiring a large number of MKs for some legislative purpose just makes no sense. more...
Israel’s Legal System and Corruption: White Knight or Black?
by Yitzhak Klein, Director, Israel Policy Center
The Olmert government has acquired a reputation as one of the most overtly corrupt in Israel’s history. A former Finance Minister is on trial for peculation. A former Justice Minister was convicted of sexual harassment (but, in an odd ruling, not of felonious conduct). The head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee is on trial for making illegal appointments when a Cabinet minister. To crown it all, Morris Talansky has testified to handing the Prime Minister envelopes of cash. more...
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Government to Investigate Police and State Prosecution’s Conduct in Ramon Probe |
