Members of the Center-Left coalition slated to be sworn in next week, are seeking to pass a law that would bar Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from running in future elections, Israel Hayom learned.
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The coalition deal, parts of which were released on Monday, including introducing legislation by which anyone who has served as prime minister for eight years or over would have to abide by a four-year "cooling off" period before again seeking the premiership.
As Netanyahu as Israel's longest-serving prime minister, the law, if passed, would effectively only apply to him.
The bill is the brainchild of former Likud MK-turned senior New Hope lawmaker Ze'ev Elkin. It was presented as one of New Hope's core demands during the coalition talks.
Yamina, for its part, sought to impose another limitation on Netanyahu, by which anyone who served as prime minister for 10 years would not be eligible to be tasked with forming the government.
A Yamina official said that the proposal was "not a done deal" but stressed that even in draft form "there's no talk about barring anyone from running for the Knesset. The only thing currently being discussed is imposing a limit on the prime minister's term of two terms – eight years."
According to Channel 12 News, the coalition also seeks to push legislation that would make it easier for MKs to split from parties, with the clear aim of allowing Likud members to form small factions that could join the government.
The new bill seeks to set the minimum number of MKs who can form a faction that splits from a party at four – instead of the current one-third, or 10, in Likud's case.
A Likud statement slammed the proposed bills, saying that Yamina leader Naftali Bennett "is turning Israel into a dictatorship. These bills will turn Israel from an enlightened democracy into a tyrannical regime.
"Bennett has crossed every red line in his crazy pursuit of the premiership at all costs."
Meanwhile, Likud officials have been speculating about the possibility of holding primaries. Party insiders said that Netanyahu would actually prefer to hold the primaries soon, while he still enjoys a position of strength in the party, as he fears that holding primaries down the line would undermine his position.
Still, the final decision on the matter falls to MK Haim Katz, who heads the Likud caucus, and he opposes holding internal elections at this time.
Primaries aside, a growing number of frustrated lawmakers no longer shy away from criticizing Netanyahu, with many saying the rise of the Center-Left coalition spells "the beginning of the end of the Netanyahu era."
"It's like in nature documentaries when the old lion is starting to show signs of weakness, and the young lions are starting to sniff around him," one Likud member illustrated, adding it was "unlikely Netanyahu would be able to sit in the opposition for long. He's not cut out for that."
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