Democratic and Republican United States senators announced legislation Thursday that would impose sanctions on Iran over an alleged plot by Iranian intelligence agents to kidnap Iranian-born US journalist Masih Alinejad.

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Democrat Ben Cardin and Republican Pat Toomey said their legislation would seek to hold Iran accountable for the plot and prevent any further attempted kidnappings on US soil.

US prosecutors charged four Iranian operatives in July with plotting to kidnap Alinejad, a journalist who was critical of Tehran. The US Treasury department said in September it had sanctioned the operatives behind the failed plot.

"If you dare to attempt to come to our nation and kidnap an American citizen, there will be dire consequences," Cardin told a news conference with Toomey and Alinejad. She said she came out of hiding for the event at the US Capitol.

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Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar released details of proposed legislation that would ban anyone accused of crimes punishable by over three years in prison from forming a government. In the political system, the bill, which would directly impact former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is under indictment, has been dubbed the "Netanyahu law."

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If passed, the legislation, which would amend Basic Law: Government, would prevent an individual under indictment for a crime of moral turpitude from being tasked with the mandate to form a government. It would also prevent the person in question from inclusion in no-confidence votes or being sworn in as alternate prime minster. The law would go into effect with the signing-in of the new Knesset.

According to the legislation, the Knesset Central Elections Committee could allow such a lawmaker to receive the mandate should the crime be determined to not be one of moral turpitude.

The bill, which seeks to limit Netanyahu's next steps, has been the object of dispute within the coalition.

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked and her fellow Yamina party member Nir Orbach oppose the legislation. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has yet to make his opinion on the matter public, although in the past, Sa'ar said he had coordinated on the issue with Bennett and that the Yamina leader had "greenlighted" the bill. Defense Minister and Blue and White party chief Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister and Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid support the law while the Likud has opposed it. While Ra'am party head Mansour Abbas has in the past said he was not committed to the legislation, he has already shown himself to be open to changing his mind. Finance Minister and Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Lieberman has said he plans to vote in line with the coalition.

"It is our obligation to determine better regime arrangements that fortify Israel's values as a Jewish and democratic state for the future. We are obligated to prevent the recurrence of the situation Israel has until recently experienced," Sa'ar said.

Right-wing politicians criticized the bill.

Shaked said she "opposes this legislation. I do not think the attorney general should determine who heads the government. We agreed not to deal with this until state budget [is passed] and then we will make a decision."

In a statement, the Likud party said: "Gideon Sa'ar who in the polls is clawing at the electoral threshold from below is proposing an Iran-style, anti-democratic law that seeks to disqualify those who earn 35 Knesset seats in the polls and earn the support of millions of citizens as their representative for the premiership. How embarrassing."

Religious Zionism Party MK Simcha Rothman called the bill "an embarrassment for Gideon Sa'ar and an embarrassment for the state. Anyone who does not trust the 61 lawmakers to pick the best candidate and tries to let a clerk decide who can and cannot be prime minister form them shows themselves to have not faith in the people, elected officials, and the democratic process. This is not reminiscent of darker times. This is a dark time."

Likud MK Miki Zohar said, "Clearly Gideon Sa'ar's legislation can be corrected as soon as we return to state leadership. The problem is that if the bill passes, anyone who wants to serve as prime minister will need to worry the State Attorney's Office may not like them and file an indictment against them."

Joint Arab List head Ayman Odeh tweeted that his party could ensure the bill was passed "by next week."

In an interview with Army Radio, Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze'ev Elkin called the bill" the learning of lessons from the reality in which we lived. For years, I thought it was necessary to wait for a conviction, but when I saw how a state can be taken hostage and thrown into a series of election campaigns, I was forced to change my mind. I think there it's unfeasible for Netanyahu to go back to being prime minister. It's not a personal law," he said.

Health Minister and Meretz MK Nitzan Horowitz told Tel Aviv-based radio station 103FM: I "support the law with all my heart. It's an anomaly for a man with an indictment and a criminal trial to continue to serve as prime minister. What is fitting for a minister and a mayor is fitting for a prime minister."

Referring to former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, he said, "There once was a prime minister who had an indictment filed against them and resigned. Such a law is very appropriate and should be a given."

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Professor Mordechai Kremnitzer's support for ice-cream maker Ben & Jerry's boycott of the settlements should disqualify him from serving on a committee tasked with preparing legislation for a proposed Basic Law, Likud faction chairman Yariv Levin argued in a letter to Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar Tuesday.

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In a letter to Sa'ar, Levin wrote: "You are known to have appointed a committee for the preparation of Basic Law: Legislation for the government. As I have noted in the past, the establishment of the committee itself was harmful and unnecessary as comprehensive legislation on the subject was already placed on the Knesset's desk after being formulated in a way that guarantees the Knesset's standing and the proper democratic regulation of the matter."

He continued: "Moreover, I have in the past alerted attention to the appointment of the committee … could result in an outcome the opposite of that desired, especially in view of the positions of some of its members and Professor Kremnitzer in particular.

"Yesterday, I was presented with a petition that was also signed by Professor Kremnitzer within the framework of which support was given to the Ben & Jerry's company for its decision to boycott Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria. It goes without saying that someone who signed a petition in support of boycotts of Israeli citizens and Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria is unfit to serve in any government body and certainly not a committee directly appointed by you as justice minister."

Noting Housing and Construction and Jerusalem Affairs Minister Zeev Elkin, a member of Gideon Sa'ar's own New Hope Party, was one of several lawmakers to initiate legislation aimed at fighting the boycott of Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria, Levin wrote: "A situation in which one member of your party supposedly works to prevent boycotts while you appoint someone who supports boycotts as a member of a government committee on such an important and central issue is absurd and hypocritical on its face. Under these grave circumstances, I ask you to announce the immediate cancellation of Professor Kremnitzer's appointment as a member of the committee you established to prepare Basic Law: Legislation."

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The measure was defeated 50 to 40, ensuring that the measure would not get the 60 needed to pass the Republican-majority Senate as an amendment to an annual defense policy bill.

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Ten senators did not vote.

US-Iranian military tensions have risen over the past two months, after Trump withdrew the United States a year ago from an international nuclear deal with Tehran and world powers.

The bill, the National Defense Authorization Act, passed the Senate on Thursday, but Senate leaders made the unusual decision to allow the amendment vote on Friday after a handful of Republicans joined Democrats in calling for debate on the matter.

Republican opponents of the legislation argued it would impose unnecessary restrictions on Trump if he faced a threat from Iran.

Supporters said it was necessary to ensure that Congress retains its constitutional right to authorize the use of military force and to lessen the chance of a miscalculation that could plunge the country into a prolonged conflict.

A week ago, Washington called off airstrikes just minutes before impact.

On Friday, Iran said European countries had offered too little at last-ditch talks to persuade Iran to back off from its plans to breach limits imposed by that agreement.

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The idea of mandatory military service for Ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, who have traditionally been exempt from conscription, has been a spoke in the wheels of the process of putting together the next governing coalition. The main sticking point has been that the haredi factions oppose a law that would impose conscription that was authorized by the defense establishment under former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who says he will not agree to the legislation being altered in the slightest to accommodate the haredi demands.

In response, the haredi factions are working on a solution that would not entail any change to the proposed draft bill, which would mean Lieberman could support it. However, the haredim would seek to add a declaration that is important to their rabbis, which would state that any yeshiva student who wanted to continue studying Torah would be able to do so.

The haredim said the defense establishment could add the rabbinical declaration.

In addition, the haredim want to pass a basic law that would enshrine in law the importance of Torah study, hoping that a basic law would prevent the High Court from rejecting laws exempting yeshiva students from military service on the grounds that the exemption violates the principle of equality.

"The haredi string-pullers are once again trying tricky maneuvers with the IDF's [haredi] draft bill," Lapid wrote on Twitter.

"The draft bill should be passed exactly as it is written. Without additions, without money on the side, without codicils, without a 'Basic Law: The Importance of Torah Study,' whose only purpose is to allow people to evade IDF service," Lapid wrote.

Lapid tagged Lieberman and said, "You gave your word."

One haredi official involved in the negotiations had harsh words for Lieberman in a conversation with Israel Hayom.

"We, along with the [national] religious, represent 20 seats, whereas Lieberman is only worth five," the official said.

"Nevertheless, we are the ones who are willing to take steps to accommodate him. With 20 seats, we could easily demand that a law different from the one the defense establishment wrote be passed, something that we would agree with – and still, we're saying that we're willing to compromise on the Defense Ministry bill, even without changes to it, other than one declarative clause that will ensure that those who study Torah will be able to continue to study Torah," the official continued.

"The Defense Ministry's draft bill is inconvenient for the haredi world, and yet we're the ones who are compromising. Avigdor Lieberman doesn't even need to dial back his demand that the bill pass as-is," the official said.

Meanwhile, the National Union responded on Tuesday to a report in Israel Hayom that if Smotrich is not given the justice portfolio, he will ask for the public security portfolio and seek the authority to appoint a new police commissioner.

Smotrich stressed on Tuesday that if he did not receive the justice portfolio, he would seek the education portfolio. According to his agreement with Habayit Hayehudi chairman Rafi Peretz, whose party ran with the National Union on a joint ticket, Smotrich has the first pick of portfolios. However, despite his denials, party sources said it was possible that Smotrich would agree to serve as public security minister.

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