Jeremy's Knesset Insider

Last Tuesday’s session lasted about three and a half hours. Netanyahu and Livni exchanged words, but the coalition remained solid even after a tense budget week. House Committee Chairman MK Levin changed and added regulations regarding motions in the Knesset handbook. In the one-minute speeches MKs blew off steam from their frustrations surrounding the long budget discussion and voting marathon. No bills were discussed.

 

Non-Bills Summary

• 20 MKs participated in the one-minute speech segment that opened the session. The budget was the main topic of discussion.
• A discussion, as requested by 40 MKs, on the motion titled “The Netanyahu government’s failure in the political, economic and social sectors” took place. 14 MKs participated in the discussion. Following their speeches Prime Minister Netanyahu defended his government and opposition leader Livni called him a liar. Netanyahu’s speech was accepted by the Knesset’s 43-25-1 vote.
• House Committee Chairman MK Levin (Likud) explained that he was bringing a proposal to change the Knesset regulations book. He explained that the paragraph that deals with motions would be expanded to allow MKs to join motions of other MKs and to appeal the committee to which their motion is sent. The proposal was approved 10-0.

Last Monday’s session lasted about three and a half hours. Ten bills were discussed. Six passed their third readings and became law. Four bills were advanced after passing their first readings. The highlight bill of the day will award an Israeli citizen who has been out of the country for six years with the same exact benefits that a new immigrant (oleh) receives when they enter the country for the three years following their reentry.

 

Non-Bills Summary

• Kadima’s no-confidence motion titled: “Prime Minister is busy with political survival considerations at the expense of the significant decisions and the fate of the country and its citizens” was defeated 29-54 with 37 MKs not present.
• The three Israeli-Arab parties’ no-confidence motion titled: “The government is dangerous for democracy” was defeated 25-54 with 41 MKs not present.
• House Committee Chairman MK Levin (Likud) announced that a disputed bill will be discussed in the House Committee. He explained that he wished to split that bill and send to different committees and asked for Knesset support. It was approved 19-0.

 

Bills Summary

Amendment to the Patents Bill

Justice Committee Chairman MK Rotem (Y.B.) explained that until now a patent only became official after it was published in the government paper Reshumot. He said that from now on all patents will become official when released on the Israeli patent website.

The bill passed its second reading 23-0.

The bill passed its third reading 23-0.

MK Rotem thanked his committee members and all of his assistants for helping him pass this bill.

Two amendments to the Income Tax Ordinance Bill

Funds Committee Chairman MK Gafni (U.T.J.) congratulated Deputy Speaker Levy-Abekasis on her new job. The deputy speaker responded this wasn’t her first day on the job. Gafni blushed. He went on to explain new types of “keren histalmut” and “keren neamnut” (short-term tax free savings plans) will be accepted. He said that the previous bill was split off from the Arrangements Bill. He explained the second bill would grant all new immigrant rights to returning citizens who have been out of the country for six years.

The first bill passed its second reading 20-0.

The first bill passed its third reading 25-0.

The second bill passed its second reading 23-0.

The second bill passed its third reading 26-0.

Amendment to the Sick Pay Bill

Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Noked (Labor) praised the concept of sick pay days. She explained that the amendment would raise the payment given for a sick day from 75% of a person’s salary to 100% of a person’s salary.

MK Miller (Y.B.) praised Noked and said that it is an important bill that will help every salaried worker in the country. He asked Noked to find a solution for small businesses that might need to fire people in order to meet the costs of the new bill.

MK Zeev (Shas) wished all the sick people health. He noted that in December when employees realize they have sick days they haven’t used and they are about to expire, they decide to play sick for the last few weeks of the year. He suggested someone monitor this wide-spread occurrence.

MK Whbee (Kadima) praised the bill and attacked the indirect taxes.

The bill passed its first reading 21-0 and was sent to the Labor Committee.

Amendment to the National Insurance Bill

Labor and Welfare Minister Herzog (Labor) explained that the amendment would allow citizens to receive information on their insurance premiums and to appeal them to a committee.

MK Molla (Kadima) slammed the national insurance employees, who he called unhelpful to say the least. He said he would prefer to see the appeals go to court and not to a committee of bad insurance employees.

The bill passed its first reading 16-0 and was sent to the Labor Committee.

MK Vaknin (Shas) double voted for MK Cohen who did not make it to his seat in time. Vaknin apologized, and Cohen’s vote counted.

Amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance Bill

Deputy Finance Minister Cohen (Shas) slammed the income tax ordinance bill that has been in place since the British mandate and complained that he is bringing the 180^th amendment to the bill. He suggested writing an Israeli income tax bill. Speaker Rivlin remained silent. Cohen explained the amendment would allow banks to charge higher interest rates to international citizens.

MK Whbee slammed the British income tax ordinance bill and blasted the Israeli government’s indirect taxes. He called on the government to lower all taxes for poor people.

MK Miller asked if the banks plan on reducing interest rates for Israelis or just raising their bottom line.

MK Ben Ari (N.U.) blasted the newspaper Haaretz for overusing and lowering the value of the terms “racist” and “racism”. He blasted Haaretz for deciding that investigating leftist funds is racist but kicking Jews out of their home is not racist. He stated that measures taken against our enemies are not racism, but survival. He quoted former Prime Minister Golda Meir who said that Jews who marry Arabs are considered to be an addition to the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust. He asked why Haaretz chose not to call her a racist then. Perhaps, he answered, it is because she was a leftist.

The bill passed its first reading 19-0 and was sent to the Funds Committee.

Amendment to the Veteran Civil Bill

Deputy Veterans Minister Nass (Likud) explained that the amendment would provide information to the elderly on their rights and benefits as a senior citizen.

MK Ben Ari praised the bill that will show our gratitude towards the pioneers who built the country. He said that unlike the slogan “the world belongs to the young”, he feels this bill will show that the world belongs to them as well.

Deputy Speaker Levy-Abekasis praised the bill as well.

The bill passed its first reading 21-0 and was sent to the Labor Committee.

Amendment to the Foundations of the Budget Bill

MK Vaknin (Shas) explained that the government would ease taxes for land near Israel’s borders. He thanked MK Gafni for fast-tracking the bill.

The bill passed its second reading 13-0.

The bill passed its third reading 12-0.

Amendment to the National Insurance Bill

Labor Committee Chairman MK Haim Katz (Likud) praised the sponsor of the bill, MK Orlev, for his many socialistic bills. He explained this amendment would allow national insurance workers to receive certain national insurance benefits such as food during hospital visits, without it being labeled a conflict of interest.

The bill passed its second reading 12-0.

The bill passed its third reading 11-0.

MK Orlev thanked Chairman Katz for supporting the bill. He went on to thank his assistants and lobbyists who helped him with the bill.

Amendment to the Securities Bill

Labor Committee Chairman MK Haim Katz explained the amendment would prohibit company owners from forcing their employees to pay off company expenses if the company goes bankrupt. He explained that the tycoons have postponed this bill, and finally, thanks to the courage of a few, the bill will be passed. He noted that there is a list of exceptions in the bill, but that they are very few. He went on to thank his assistants for helping him with the bill.

The bill passed its second reading 11-0.

The bill passed its third reading 11-0.

The December 29th  session lasted over twelve and a half hours. The MKs started bright and early and passed the Arrangements Bill in its third reading 67-23 with 30 MKs not present before lunch. The budget passed its third reading 63-33 with 24 MKs not present around 9:30 PM.

Day three of the budget discussion lasted for about an hour and a half. Following were eleven hours of voting with only a short break in the middle. Two bills were corrected at the end of the budget voting marathon. The only coalition MK to vote against the budget was Labor MK Ben Simon.  Twelve coalition MKs and twelve opposition MKs were absent from the final vote. The opposition faction National Union split the party’s votes- two MKs voted for the budget, one voted against it and one chose not to participate.

 

Bills Summary

2011-2012 Budget Bill and 2011-2012 Arrangements Bill

Speaker Rivlin asked the opposition to agree to a break for lunch in the middle of the session.

MK Abesadze (Kadima) was praised by Speaker Rivlin for showing her restraint and not speaking from the plenum during her first month as an MK. Abesadze praised MK Gafni for splitting bills from the Arrangements Bill and said he was no sucker. She blasted the government for raising indirect taxes such as school uniforms, mortgages and city taxes. She attacked Netanyahu for reneging on some of his campaign promises in order to lower the deficit.

MK Eldad (N.U.) attacked the government for not budgeting for the 40% of children who don’t have gas masks. He wondered how parents will choose which children will receive a gas mask and which will die. He speculated what fighting will be in the streets in order to get a mask. He noted that a citizen can’t buy it privately or import the gas masks. He recalled when he was the head doctor of the army the importance that the government placed on defending their citizens. He attacked the Foreign and Defense Committee Chairman Mofaz, an opposition MK, for not fighting this issue.

MK Ben Ari (N.U.) attacked the government for not raising the budget for immigration and absorption. He blasted the government for allowing illegal immigration and for not allocating funds for it. He warned that the illegals will receive the funds and the citizens will not. He said that on average 15 illegals live in one house, many times in abandoned apartments. He stated that entire neighborhoods are becoming African and they use the bathroom in public. He asked if those who fight an enemy are racist. He blasted the New Israel Fund for being anti-Zionistic. He warned that Israel is slowly being taken over by Africans.

MK Adatto (Kadima) attacked the budget for not allocating funds for extra hospital beds and finding new doctors. She said that the decision to move money from pharmaceuticals to children’s dentistry was a bad move. She blasted the decision to allow pharmacists to write prescriptions to patients for the first nine months and to check patients in a separate room in order to make a diagnosis.

MK Bar-On (Kadima) summarized the last three days of debating the budget by saying it was a bad budget. He slammed Netanyahu’s interview on Channel 10 and said it made him feel sorry for Netanyahu. He went on to slam Ministers Liberman and Yishai. He said that Netanyahu is weak, the government is going nowhere and nothing good will come of this year or this budget.

Finance Minister Steinitz (Likud) defended the biannual budget as the only way to protect Israel from the global economic crisis. He noted that many of the experts in the financial sector agree with him and the success of the previous biannual budget. He praised the 700 million NIS increase in the budget for working single mothers. He stated that minimum wage salaried employees will pay less and receive more. He noted the increase in the transportation budget’s train and new roads sectors. He lauded the incentives for high tech and start-up companies. He thanked Speaker Rivlin for shrinking the Arrangements Bill. He concluded that the budget is good for the citizens of Israel.

Funds Committee Chairman MK Gafni (U.T.J.) praised the small Arrangements Bill and the bills that were split off from it. He asked the Knesset to support the budget despite the compromises that were made.

The opposition’s objections on the Arrangements Bill were defeated 43-66, 43-67, 42-69, 42-71, 43-70, 40-63, 40-68, 40-68, 38-69, 38-68, 37-63, 39-66, 37-65, 33-64, 35-64, 35-61, 41-63, 38-60, 38-65, 39-66, 43-57, 38-61, 42-67, 30-59, 31-58, 38-65, 37-58, 44-62, 38-63, 38-59, 42-64, 37-67 and 30-58.

Communications Minister Kahlon’s objections were accepted 67-38, 69-41, 69-39 and 68-39.

The Finance Minister Steinitz’s objections were accepted 97-7 and 62-32.

The paragraphs of the Arrangements Bill were accepted in their second reading 68-44, 68-42, 69-39, 69-39, 66-38, 68-35, 67-34, 67-35, 57-28, 63-34, 65-37, 61-38, 60-37, 61-37, 64-39, 64-40, 64-37-1, 55-35, 85-10, 50-32, 62-38, 52-38, 58-33, 57-29, 64-31-1, 62-34, 55-35, 59-36, 65-38, 60-38, 60-37, 63-39, 53-24, 56-27, 57-34-1 and 54-20.

The Arrangements Bill passed its third reading 67-23.

Following the passing of the Arrangements Bill, the Knesset took a 49-minute break so the MKs could eat some lunch.

When they returned, Finance Minister Steinitz announced that the government will vote against all of the objections on the budget.

MK Bar-On apologized for hurting Deputy Finance Minister Cohen’s feelings earlier.

The objections on the budget were defeated 28-53, 28-54, 31-54, 36-56, 34-51, 35-55, 33-55, 32-55, 34-64, 33-61, 28-54, 31-54, 36-56, 34-51, 35-55, 33-55, 32-55, 34-64, 33-61, 35-63, 37-64, 27-61, 39-68, 33-57, 32-56, 35-56, 32-62, 33-60, 12-80, 35-59, 27-57-1, 30-58, 31-53, 9-40, 39-60, 34-57, 33-56, 34-61, 35-58, 32-59-1, 30-57, 32-60, 33-60, 35-58, 31-58, 37-60, 36-18, 31-55, 25-55, 31-58, 18-67, 31-58, 29-60, 35-61, 25-44, 26-47, 25-51-1, 25-52-1, 32-54, 31-52, 31-53, 30-52, 29-54, 29-50, 28-52, 28-53, 26-54, 31-54, 33-50, 32-54, 34-55, 34-50, 32-55, 30-54, 31-53, 31-54, 25-51, 26-50, 29-47, 29-47, 26-50, 19-39, 23-45, 28-48, 26-50, 27-50, 28-50, 27-50, 30-49, 32-56, 24-51, 31-52, 29-48, 29-53, 31-56, 23-57, 28-51, 30-51, 25-54, 33-53, 33-55, 34-55, 35-52, 31-45, 37-58, 19-42, 21-47, 23-46, 28-49, 28-51, 24-53, 24-51, 29-55, 30-49, 23-51-1, 26-52, 23-53, 28-59, 18-68, 31-53, 28-58-1, 28-58, 31-56, 32-58, 30-60-1, 32-60, 33-62, 32-59, 32-58, 33-57, 30-58, 31-58, 32-62, 32-59, 30-61, 32-60, 31-57, 29-59, 31-59 and 28-55.

The budget’s paragraphs passed their second readings 52-34 and 57-37, 59-31-1 and 64-30, 52-34 and 57-37, 59-39-1 and 64-30, 62-37 and 59-32, 60-32 and 62-29, 59-31 and  58-28, 47-33 and 59-36, 59-31 and 58-31, 60-32 and 55-30, 59-33 and 58-34, 56-23 and 56-32, 58-33, 49-25, 59-31, 65-26, 43-16, 42-20, 52-28 and 54-32, 59-31, 55-32, 56-28, 56-28 and 54-27, 51-31, 51-25, 49-35, 45-21, 59-27, 60-32, 62-31, 60-33, 61-32, 61-33, 59-30-1, 61-33, 61-25, 60-29, 60-31 and 63-31.

• Those votes that have an “and” in between them indicate votes taken separately for the 2011 and 2012 budgets.

Speaker Rivlin asked Funds Committee Chairman Gafni if he wishes to bring the budget for a third reading.

Funds Committee Chairman Gafni said that he agreed to bring it for a third reading. He said it was a good budget and that none of the opposition’s objections were accepted by the Knesset, so he has no reason to bring the budget back to the Funds Committee.

The budget passed its third reading 63-33 with 24 MKs not present.

• The 63 MKs who voted for the budget were 22 of the 27 Likud MKs, 14 of the 15 Yisrael Beitenu MKs, 10 of the 11 Shas MKs, 7 of the 13 Labor MKs, the 5 United Torah Judaism MKs and the 3 Jewish Home MKs. From the opposition, 2 of the 4 National Union MKs- Katzeleh and Ariel- voted for the budget.
• The 33 MKs who voted against the budget were 20 of the 28 Kadima MKs, the 4 Hadash MKs, the 3 Meretz MKs, 2 of the 4 Ra’am-Ta’al MKs, 2 of the 3 Balad MKs and 1 of the 4 National Union MKs (MK Eldad). The only coalition MK to vote against the budget was Labor MK Ben Simon.
• 24 MKs were not present for the budget vote- 12 from the coalition and 12 from the opposition.  From the coalition were Likud Ministers Shalom, Livnat, Katz, Erdan and Sa’ar, Yisrael Beitenu’s Foreign Minister Lieberman, Shas MK Amsellem, Labor MKs Peretz, Cabel, Wilf and Yacimovich and Labor Minister Ben-Eliezer. From the opposition were Kadima MKs Ezra, Itzik, Boim, Edery, Tiviaev, Avraham Balila, Tirosh and Mofaz, Ra’am-Ta’al MKs Tibi and Ganaim, Balad MK Naffaa and National Union MK Ben Ari.

Funds Committee Chairman Gafni thanked Prime Minister Netanyahu and the finance minister for listening to his complaints and for tweaking the budget as much as they could. He thanked all of his assistants personally for helping him and thanked all of the other Knesset committee chairmen.

Finance Minister Steinitz thanked Speaker Rivlin and the coalition for supporting the biannual budget and wished for this budget to be as successful as the last biannual budget. He thanked Prime Minister Netanyahu, Coalition Chairman Elkin and Deputy Finance Minister Cohen.

 

Decision of Interior and Environment Committee regarding the correction of the Clean Air Bill

Decision of Interior and Environment Committee regarding the correction on the Amendment to the Municipalities Ordinance Bill

Interior and Environment Committee Chairman Azoulay (Shas) explained that technical changes were needed to fix two bills due to printing errors.

They were passed 31-0 and 31-0.

MK Aflalo (Kadima) praised Speaker Rivlin for doing the most important work in this year’s budget.

Speaker Rivlin said he appreciates the fact that he is not criticized and that is enough to satisfy him. He closed the session at 21:32.