The Knesset Tuesday passed the first reading of major bills pertaining to the judicial reform, including the highly contested override clause.
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After a lengthy filibuster, the plenum split between Coalition-Opposition lines, with 61 voting in favor of the measure, and 52 voting against it.
If passed, the override clause will allow a 61-seat majority of the Knesset to relegislate laws struck down by the Supreme Court as "unconstitutional," in effect for as long as the coalition remains in power. After a year, the possibility to extend comes under review.
The proposed law would also limit the Supreme Court's judicial review, requiring 80% of its justices to overturn a law and prevent the attorney general from declaring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unfit for office.
Tuesday's vote marks the first of three before the bill becomes law. At this stage, it heads to the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee for revisions ahead of the final votes, which usually come in short succession.
The legislation is part of reforms proposed by Justice Minister Yariv Levin that have sparked massive protests in Israel, with an estimated 300,000 people participating in demonstrations last Saturday.
Opponents claim the bill would grant the new government unbridled power, while supporters say it will balance the power of the judiciary, executive and legislative branches, bringing Israel more in line with other democratic nations.
Netanyahu, who has been barred by the attorney general from discussing the specifics of the reform program due to a possible conflict of interest with his ongoing criminal trial, has called on the opposition to present its own proposal for judicial overhaul.
"For eight weeks we have been calling for negotiations. We are bringing the reform to the Knesset to decide," he said last week. "I call upon those in the opposition to do something simple: Present your alternative in an attempt to reach an agreement."
The premier said that with goodwill an agreement could be reached "within days."
Opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz rejected the overture and conditioned any negotiations on the government freezing the accompanying legislative process.
Other bills that passed first reading on Tuesday include one that would repeal the clauses of the Disengagement Law, allowing Israelis to enter territory from which Israel disengaged in 2005, and thereby allowing the government to legalize settlements in the region, such as Homesh.
i24NEWS and JNS.org contributed to this report.
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