Medical cannabis bill passes first reading with Ra'am's support

• Published date: 13 October 2021
• Author: GIL HOFFMAN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The bill, which would make it easier for Israelis to obtain medical cannabis, passed by a vote of 54-42, with the support of Ra'am (United Arab List), three months after a more comprehensive cannabis bill was embarrassingly defeated. The bill will still need to be legislated to pass into law.

Abbas told the plenum in Arabic that because the bill is solely about medical cannabis, he could vote for it. His party's votes against the other cannabis bill resulted in its defeat. Likud MKs who back legalizing cannabis left the room and allowed it to pass, unlike last time, when they voted against it.

Bennett came to the Knesset to vote in favor. Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz spoke against the bill because it does not go far enough. He said his ministry would take steps to make the bill unnecessary.

Haskel praised the coalition for passing the bill and said it would help give needed relief to 100,000 people who require medical cannabis. New Hope leader Gideon Sa'ar praised Haskel, saying it was her determination and fighting spirit that enabled the bill to pass.

Likud MK Yoav Kisch, who co-sponsored cannabis bills in the past, explained that he voted against it because it would not change anything other than giving a win to Haskel.

In another victory for the coalition, a bill that would strictly prohibit Palestinians from marrying Israeli citizens to obtain citizenship and would reform the immigration system was defeated in the Knesset by a 57 to 41 vote. The bill's sponsor, Religious Zionist Party MK Simcha Rothman, brought the bill after failing to reach a compromise on Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked's Citizenship Law, which was defeated in the Knesset in July.

Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich requested a roll call vote because he wanted video footage of right-wing MKs in the coalition voting against it.

"The government of Bennett, Shaked and Mansour Abbas voted with the Joint List in favor of the right of return of Palestinians, and that is shameful," Smotrich's party said.

Earlier, in a rare act of unity, the Knesset voted unanimously in favor of a bill that requires the Minister of Environment to submit a report on the state of nature in Israel and what needs to be done to protect it. The bill was submitted by Blue and White MK Alon Tal, his first bill that he submitted after entering the...