Likud MKs ready for term limits on PM

• Published date: 06 October 2021
• Author: GIL HOFFMAN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Likud MKs noted that Netanyahu expressed support for term limits before he became prime minister. The MKs said they were in favor of term limits on principle, regardless of their impact on Netanyahu.

"I am in favor of term limits for the leaders of every country," MK Israel Katz said. "No one is bigger than George Washington, and he sufficed with eight years. The law in America was changed to a two-term limit after Franklin Delano Roosevelt. I am in favor of doing it here, too, as long as it is not done in a way that is personal."

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Likud MK David Bitan said he, too, has supported limiting a prime minister to eight years before any bill was proposed on the matter.

Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar (New Hope) revealed the draft of his ministry's term-limits bill on Tuesday. The eight-year limit for prime ministers is not retroactive, which means Netanyahu could still be prime minister for eight more years. He is the only living Israeli who has served eight years as prime minister.

"The responsibility to limit terms is part of the coalition guidelines," Sa'ar said. "A prolonged rule brings with it a concentration of power and risk of corruption. Therefore, the term-limitation principle needs to be included in the Basic Law."

Katz said he would oppose another bill that Sa'ar intends to propose by the end of the month that would prevent anyone indicted from forming a government. That bill, which would take effect with the next Knesset...