Ministers share a place in the security cabinet to align with the law



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On Tuesday, ministers approved an agreement that two members of the security cabinet share a place in the group after the resignation of the defense minister cast doubt on the legality of decision-making at the highest level of decision-making power. .

Under Israeli law, the number of cabinet ministers can not exceed half that of the Cabinet as a whole.

Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz and Environmental Protection Minister Ze'ev Elkin, both members of the Security Cabinet, will now change their place on the committee, which will reduce the number of its members to nine out of ten. The full cabinet currently has 19 ministers.

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Although Avigdor Liberman's resignation as Defense Minister earlier this month drew attention to the question of whether the security cabinet had the legal authority to operate. The apparent violation of the law appears to have occurred on October 30, when the number of government ministers fell to 21 after the death of Religious Affairs Minister David Azoulay, but the number of members of the security cabinet is stayed at 11.

Minister of Religious Affairs David Azoulay visits the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem for the weekly government meeting on December 11, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)

Following the resignation of Sofa Landver, Minister of Liberman and Yisrael Beytenu, the number of ministers across the government fell from 21 to 19, while the number of cabinet members decreased by 11 to 10.

The difference was first reported by Channel 10 on Sunday.

The security cabinet is responsible for guiding Israel's foreign and defense policy, particularly in a national emergency, and is composed of the highest cabinet ministers.

Under the 2001 Government Act, which created the committee, the security cabinet must include the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Security the Minister of Finance. The firm is also entitled to appoint other members, provided that it does not exceed half the total number of ministers.

The forum now has nine members, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is also Minister of Defense and Minister of Foreign Affairs, as well as various coalition party leaders and other senior legislators.

In its current composition, Ministers Aryeh Deri, Zeev Elkin, Naftali Bennett, Yoav Gallant, Israel Katz and Yuval Steinitz are appointed to the group, as well as Netanyahu, Minister of Justice, Ayelet Shaked, the Minister of Public Security, Gilad Erdan, and the Minister of Finance. Moshe Kahlon.

The security cabinet is responsible for launching wars or major military operations, seeking a ceasefire or other diplomatic initiative and dealing with sensitive intelligence issues. Prior to its creation in 2001, prime ministers convened ad hoc war cabinets during national emergencies, including Golda Meir's famous kitchen cabinet during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and then Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman at the Knesset, October 24, 2017 (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90).

While the security cabinet meetings are closed to the public, their internal workings have been thoroughly examined after ministers, including Liberman, accused Netanyahu of pressuring for a cease-fire. fire with terrorists based in Gaza after a two-day surge without taking a vote, and distort their point of view. .

An unidentified official told Kan's state broadcaster earlier this month that the Netanyahu government had not even informed the security cabinet of the official policy on military action in Gaza.

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