Summary of bills before the Knesset by the end of the winter session: I. First Reading

As part of the anti-judicial reforms demonstrations, there is the argument put forward that the current coalition is only interested in narrow sectorial legislation that makes it clear to protesters that the right wing government cares only about its own extreme interests to the detriment of minorities and human rights interests. This article is part of a series of articles examining this question. Earlier related articles include:

Summary of bills before the Knesset by the end of the winter session: II 2nd-3rd Reading stage

Update on Laws before the Knesset – 2.3.23

Good thing the Knesset isn’t only preoccupied with Judicial Reform

What racist laws did Ben Gvir propose in the 24th Knesset when he was an MK?

And this one might surprise you: Hanin Zoabi was not just a hot-headed rabble rouser

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As the title of this article says, this piece will only look at articles that are at the First Reading stage of legislation by the end of the winter session (2 April 2023). Some of them are in committee for preparation for the first reading (79) and the others are ready to be taken to the plenum for voting (14). Those that pass the voting in the plenum will move on to the next committee stage for debate and changes in preparation for the second and third readings. It can be understood that private members’ bills that are at this stage already passed the first reading in the previous Knesset term in order to make it to this stage so early on; government bills, however, may be new bills as they more quickly move through the ropes, but many are also bills that were proposed in the previous term, Even if government bills were tabled by a previous coalition government with a different composition, the fact that they are still going through the process means that they are in accordance with the values of the current coalition.

If all of this is confusing to you, you can see my article on the legislative process.

Bill proposals ready for the First Vote in the Plenum:

Given that there are only 14 bills now ready for voting in the plenum, I was able to open each one and give you an idea of the nature of the proposal.

Private bills

1. Tabled by: Yaakov Asher and Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism – UTJ): If parents buy an apartment for a child under 18, it is generally regarded as a way for them to avoid paying the higher taxes charged on the  purchase of a second property as opposed to the first, and so it is taxed as part of family properties. But if child has lost a parent, the apartment purchase likely serves to ensure future economic security of the child and is bought from the inheritance of the deceased parent; therefore, it will be taxed as a first purchase only
2. Tabled by: UTJ, Shas, Likud, Religious Zionism, Labour (Naama Lazimi), Yesh Atid (Meirav Ben Ari), Hadash (Ahmad Tibi): This proposal cancels the list of specific municipalities and local authorities in the Ben Gurion Airport environs entitled to special consideration regarding government distribution of local taxes collected nationally, and entitles all municipalities and local authorities in that area that comply with nationally agreed upon criteria to benefit from increased government distribution of those funds.
3. Tabled by: Eli Dallal (Likud): Amendment that seeks to prevent delays in the process of getting approval for construction, delays that happen too easily under current conditions

Government Bills

1. Make it legal for government bodies to report suspicions of money laundering and moneys paid to support terrorism where these bodies have been prohibited by law from doing so until now.
2. Amendments to bring terminology used in the Druze Religious Courts to be parallel to those used in the Rabbanut and Sharia courts, i.e., not the Head of the Druze Religious Court, but President of the Druze Religious Court
3. Criminal Register and Rehabilitation Law – amendment to balance the need for having access to someone’s criminal record and the need for the rehabilitated criminal – or someone who was never found guilty but has been investigated – to not have to carry this record throughout life
4. Balance between the rights of apartment owners to determine use of communal property (parking lot and land around the building) and the desire of individual apt owners to install an electric charge post for their cars.
5. Extending Criminal Law statutes to include prosecution of Israeli citizens or residents who commit sexual offences against minors outside the borders of Israel regardless of the law in the other country.
6. New law: Property Purchasing Groups – balances between protecting the rights of buyers and also promoting this form of construction (
7. Temporary law related to standards required for registration of medical equipment
8. Provide criteria for allowing trial sports diving for those without a licence, something that is now forbidden. Allows children 8 years old and up to have a trial dive if they fulfil health criteria.
9. If someone without a driver’s license committed an offence (convicted or not) on a “vehicle” for which a license is not required (electric bicycle, roller skates, Segway, and more), they will not be able to get a driver’s license for one year since commission of the crime or one year after the year they would be able to get a license if they had not committed the crime.
10. Regulation of the work of the civil aviation authority regarding approval of aviation equipment purchased from foreign bodies for attachment to Israeli planes.
11. Criteria determining the psychiatrists who can be appointed to municipal psychiatry committees to prevent those who work in public agencies from being on the committee as they may have conflicts of interest

In Preparation in the Committee before the First Reading

Judging by the sheer number of bills (ten) submitted on the topic of the cost of parking at the hospital, you might that that is what concerns MKs most of all. Hmmm.

Because there are 79 bills in preparation for first reading, I cannot read them all in depth. For most, I will list the name of the law or the recommended amendment, which should give some idea what it is about, and the political party or parties of the initiators. If only one individual tabled the law, he or she will be named.Where more than one bill was tabled even though they all are saying mostly the same thing, I will list them together under the same English translation but the Hebrew bill title will be copied in full as there may be tiny differences in the Hebrew titles.

For readers’ convenience, I have grouped the bills according to the main subject of the bills.

If you want more details about any of these, the name of the bill in Hebrew should be sufficient to get you to the law proposal itself at whatever stage it is when you search for it.

Related to judicial reforms

Terrorism and terrorists

Cost of living and consumer issues

Religious matters

Sex offences

Related to discharged soldiers or National Service volunteers

Related to medical professionals

Crime

National commemoration days

Miscellaneous