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Israel special committee approves bill restricting ability to declare prime minister incompetent – JURIST

The Israeli Special Committee on Amendments to Basic Law Monday approved a first reading of a bill that would only allow the Prime Minister to be declared incompetent on the grounds of physical or mental incapacity. The vote passed by a majority of 9–6. The authority to make a declaration of incompetence would lie with the Prime Minister or three-quarters of government MKs in the event the Prime Minister is incapable of recognizing their own incompetence.The bill would also remove judicial review for decisions on incompetence, with the courts being unable to make any rulings or orders regarding the capacity of a Prime Minister. While the sponsors of the bill have described it as protecting democracy, members of the centrist political party Yesh Atid have stated that the bill elevates the Prime Minister above the law and is a “great mistake.”The vote followed discussions held on Sunday where Committee Chair MK Katz highlighted the importance of having a “rigid mechanism” for declaring incapacity as “the significance and the repercussions of the Prime Minister’s incapacity could lead to replacing the entire government and to harming the democratic process.” However, Knesset Legal Advisor Sagit Afik stated it would be important to keep judicial review in the process and called for its removal to be reconsidered. “In order to dispel allegations against the timing, it would not be appropriate to eliminate all judicial review,” Afik said. Katz agreed this was important and said he would reconsider the need for judicial review prior to the second and third Senate readings.Judicial review continues to be an area of contention within Israel, with protests being staged against planned judicial reforms that would give the Knesset power to override Supreme Court rulings.