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Israeli Knesset: Yea for "Netanyahu Bills," Nay for Early Elections
Israel's Knesset, or parliament, approved the so-called "Netanyahu bills," but rejected bills calling for early elections after a lengthy debate overnight.
The "Netanyahu bills," which amended Israel's Basic Law and would allow former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to run for prime minister in a special election, passed their second and third readings with a vote of 65-45, Knesset spokesman's office told Xinhua.
Meanwhile, the early-election bills, which calls for the dissolving of the Knesset and early elections for both prime minister and parliament, was buried in their second reading with a vote of 48 for and 68 against, the office said.
The vote result dealt a severe blow to Netanyahu's campaign to return to power as the former Likud leader reiterated his pledges Monday afternoon that he would pull out of the race if the early- election bills failed.
Officials in Netanyahu's office said early Tuesday morning that the former prime minister had not reacted to the Knesset vote result yet.
Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Barak submitted his resignation on December 10 and a snap election for prime minister should be held in 60 days.
According to Israeli laws, Netanyahu, a clear front-runner in various opinion polls recently, is ineligible to attend such a special election as he resigned from his Knesset seat after being defeated by Barak in the 1999 general elections.
The laws, before Tuesday morning's amendment, stipulated that only sitting Knesset members could run for prime minister in such a special election.
So the right-wing religious party Shas submitted the bills, dubbed "Netanyahu bills" to amend the law.
However, Netanyahu himself wanted the early-election bills to pass instead, which will also enable any citizens to run in a dual-ballot vote for prime minister and parliament.
He reportedly fears that the current Knesset makeup would make him unable to form a stable coalition even elected prime minister.
So he showed his stance clearly in the past days to pressure the wavering Shas party, who holds the pivotal 17 seats in the 120-member Knesset, to abandon the "Netanyahu bills" and support early elections.
But the Shas party, facing risks of losing its seats to the Likud of the same right-wing camp, decided Monday afternoon to vote against the early-election bills and keep the Knesset intact.
It was not clear immediately if Netanyahu will really keep his promises and pull out of the Likud's primaries on Tuesday. If he withdraws his candidacy, the current Likud leader Ariel Sharon will be the sole candidate in the primaries and will surely run against Barak in the special election, which is tentatively set for February 6.
Barak may see the vote result as a victory for his political maneuver because he regarded Netanyahu his most formidable foe in the premiership race. Analysts pointed out that with a peace agreement with the Palestinians in hands, Barak may easily defeat Sharon in the vote.
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