The coalition is working on legislation to prevent so-called "putsch" attempts against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel Hayom learned Sunday.
A senior coalition source said that the move was prompted by recent rumors that former minister Gideon Sa'ar, now trying to stage a political comeback after a four-year hiatus, is trying to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the Likud party's chairman.
The allegations, which surfaced two weeks ago, suggested that Sa'ar was in league with President Reuven Rivlin in a scheme designed to keep Netanyahu from heading the next coalition if general elections are brought forward to early 2019 instead of November next year as scheduled.
This ploy was the key reason Netanyahu decided to shelve the idea of calling early elections, the source said.
Both Sa'ar and Rivlin have denied the allegations.
According to the rumors, Sa'ar planned to use the flexibility of Basic Law: The Government, which allows the president to task any lawmaker with establishing a coalition after an election, and assembling and heading the next government. The current law allows the president to assign the task to the lawmaker he believes has the highest chance of securing a stable coalition, regardless of whether that MK heads the party that won the biggest number of votes.
Consequently, the coalition is drafting an amendment that would require the president to assign the coalition-building task only to the head of the party with the biggest number of votes.
Coalition Chairman MK David Amsalem, who is sponsoring the bill, called the alleged plot the "scheme of the century," and said the law must be amended as it "allows the president far too much discretion on the matter."
