How the Knesset Votes
English

Government bill · 20th Knesset · published as law 14 January 2018

חוק-יסוד: הממשלה (תיקון מס' 5)Basic Law: The Government (Amendment No. 5) · automatic translation · suggest a correction

Status: התקבלה בקריאה שלישית

Topics: Government and elections* · * from the Knesset's official law classification

Official summary of the law (Knesset)

The Law establishes that in a ministry in which the Prime Minister serves as minister, the Prime Minister may delegate statutory powers vested in the minister, except for the power to enact regulations, to the deputy minister in that ministry, just as he may delegate powers to a public employee.

automatic translation · suggest a correction

Hebrew original

החוק קובע כי במשרד שראש הממשלה מכהן בו כשר יוכל ראש הממשלה להאציל סמכויות סטטוטוריות הנתונות לשר, למעט הסמכות להתקין תקנות, לידי סגן השר במשרד האמור, כפי שהוא יכול להאציל את הסמכויות לעובד ציבור.

Readings

What was said in the plenum

The Basic Law bill seeks to regulate the status of the deputy minister, after the High Court of Justice ruled that the existing situation - in which a deputy minister effectively serves as holding ministerial powers - is not properly regulated by law. The amendment allows only the Prime Minister, when additional ministries are under his responsibility, to transfer to a deputy minister the same powers that can currently be transferred to a public servant (such as a director-general), without granting him the actual status of a minister; the discussion revolved mainly around the expected appointment of MK Litzman as deputy minister of health and his functioning in this role.

automatic translation · suggest a correction

Hebrew original

הצעת חוק-היסוד מבקשת להסדיר את מעמד סגן השר, לאחר שבג״ץ קבע כי המצב הקיים - שבו סגן שר מכהן בפועל כבעל סמכויות שר - אינו מוסדר כראוי בחוק. התיקון מאפשר אך ורק לראש הממשלה, כאשר תחת אחריותו משרדים נוספים, להעביר לסגן שר את אותן סמכויות שניתן כיום להעביר לעובד ציבור (כמו מנכ״ל), מבלי להעניק לו מעמד של שר ממש; הדיון נסב בעיקר סביב מינויו הצפוי של ח״כ ליצמן לסגן שר הבריאות ותפקודו בתפקיד זה.

Arguments for

  • The amendment only regulates and narrows down to granting powers that can already be transferred today from the minister to a public servant, and does not change the basic system of government or grant the deputy minister the status of a minister.
    Nissan Slomiansky (Jewish Home)
  • The amendment is intended to help the Prime Minister, who is burdened with many roles, to manage an important ministry such as Health in depth, by granting powers to a deputy minister who will be able to fight for the ministry's budget against the Treasury, particularly ahead of the upcoming budget discussions.
    Nissan Slomiansky (Jewish Home), Orly Levi-Abekasis (Orly Levy-Abekasis)
  • The amendment is consistent with the spirit of the Supreme Court's ruling, since the court determined that the previous situation was not properly regulated by law and required explicit regulation, which is exactly what the Knesset is doing now.
    Nissan Slomiansky (Jewish Home), Zeev Elkin (Likud)
  • This status of a deputy minister actually in charge of a ministry was an accepted and established practice for decades under various governments, both of the right and of the left, and therefore there is no principled reason to object to enshrining it in law.
    Zeev Elkin (Likud)
  • MK Litzman has demonstrated ability, experience and skills in managing the Ministry of Health and in struggles for the public benefit (such as dental treatment for children, expansion of MRI and dialysis services, and promoting health in the periphery), and therefore it is appropriate to support his return to the position and the law that enables this.
    Orly Levi-Abekasis (Orly Levy-Abekasis)

Arguments against

  • The amendment is intended to disguise and effectively enable the actual management of the Ministry of Health, one of the most important in the state system, by a deputy minister as if he were a minister, in a manner perceived as unreasonable.
    Zeev Elkin (Likud)
Who spoke (3)
MemberFactionReadingsSpeechesIn the final vote
Nissan SlomianskyJewish Home coalitionThird reading8for
Zeev ElkinLikud coalitionThird reading6for
Orly Levi-AbekasisOrly Levy-Abekasis oppositionThird reading14for

An automatic summary of the plenum transcripts: the debate on the bill at every reading it was voted on. Arguments are given as the speakers made them; this is not an assessment. The list of speakers comes from the transcript, without a model. Transcripts of the sittings: 1, 2

Reservations to the second reading

12 reservations were filed: proposed changes to the text the committee brought to the second and third reading.

The reservations mainly address the regulation of the status and powers of a deputy minister who effectively serves as the official in charge of a government ministry when the Prime Minister is the minister responsible for it, and seek to limit this phenomenon, clarify the responsibility and powers, or justify the purpose of the law.

automatic translation · suggest a correction

Hebrew original

ההסתייגויות עוסקות בעיקר בהסדרת מעמדו וסמכויותיו של סגן שר המכהן בפועל כאחראי על משרד ממשלתי כאשר ראש הממשלה הוא השר הממונה עליו, ומבקשות להגביל תופעה זו, להבהיר את האחריות והסמכויות, או לנמק את מטרת החוק.

By faction

A joint reservation counts for every faction whose members filed it.

Who proposed what
  • אורלי לוי אבקסיס · 5
    The reservations seek to change various formulations in the proposed subsection (c1), including the definition of the functioning of the responsible minister and the deputy minister in the same ministry, and to clarify that the authority relates to the Ministry of Health.
    Sections: לסעיף 1
  • יעל גרמן, מיכל רוזין, אילן גילאון, עיסאווי פריג', תמר זנדברג ומוסי רז · 2
    The reservations seek to establish that the Basic Law is intended to obscure the unreasonableness of managing the Ministry of Health by a deputy minister holding ministerial powers, and to circumvent the Supreme Court's ruling on this matter.
    Sections: לפני סעיף 1
    Yael German, Michal Rozin, Ilan Gilon, Esawi Frej, Tamar Zandberg, Mossi Raz
  • אלעזר שטרן ואיתן ברושי · 1
    The reservation seeks to establish that the Basic Law is being legislated despite the knowledge that this will harm the representation of health considerations in government decisions.
    Sections: לפני סעיף 1
    Elazar Stern, Eytan Broshi
  • קארין אלהרר ואיתן ברושי · 1
    The reservation and its alternatives seek to limit the prime minister's tenure as a minister in charge to a single ministry only, or to establish that a prime minister will not serve as a minister in a situation of conflict of interest, or that a deputy minister will not be appointed in a ministry without a full-time minister.
    Sections: לסעיף 1
    Karine Elharrar, Eytan Broshi
  • אלעזר שטרן · 1
    The reservation seeks to add to subsection (c1) that without responsibility there are no powers and duties.
    Sections: לסעיף 1
  • קארין אלהרר · 1
    The reservation seeks to establish that a deputy minister shall bear joint responsibility before the Knesset and the public for the decisions of the government as a whole.
    Sections: לסעיף 1
  • איתן ברושי · 1
    The reservation seeks to establish that a deputy minister will be invited to participate in government meetings and ministerial committees dealing with matters relating to the ministry in which the Prime Minister serves as the responsible minister.
    Sections: לסעיף 1

Asked to speak: Uri Maklev (United Torah Judaism), Oded Forer (Yisrael Beytenu), Yehuda Joshua Glick (Likud), Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid), Meir Cohen (Yesh Atid), Yaakov Perry (Yesh Atid), Ofer Shelah (Yesh Atid), Haim Jelin (Yesh Atid), Yoel Razvozov (Yesh Atid), Aliza Lavie (Yesh Atid), Mickey Levy (Yesh Atid), Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union), Tzipi Livni (Zionist Union), Shelly Yachimovich (Zionist Union), Stav Shaffir (Zionist Union), Itzik Shmuli (Zionist Union), Omer Barlev (Zionist Union), Yehiel Hilik Bar (Zionist Union), Amir Peretz (Zionist Union), Merav Michaeli (Zionist Union), Eitan Cabel (Zionist Union), Micky Rosenthal (Zionist Union), Revital Swid (Zionist Union), Yoel Hasson (Zionist Union), Zouheir Bahloul (Zionist Union), Michal Biran (Zionist Union), Nachman Shai (Zionist Union), Ksenia Svetlova (Zionist Union), Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin (Zionist Union), Yoseph Yonah (Zionist Union), Eyal Ben Reuven (Zionist Union), Yael Cohen Paran (Zionist Union), Saleh Saad (Zionist Union), Leah Fadida (Zionist Union)

Proposers and reservation numbers are extracted automatically from the committee version, and the count is checked against the numbers printed in it. The descriptions are an automatic summary. Committee version for the second and third reading (PDF)

Reservations, sections and other votes (10)

In order. Votes on reservations and individual sections are shown separately from the vote on the bill as a whole.

Source: bill page in the Knesset legislation database ↗

Basic Law: The Government (Amendment No. 5) · How the Knesset Votes