The vote in the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee was 8:8 on a bill with heavy penalties for violators.
The government has lost an important Knesset committee vote. The Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee failed to approve for its second and third readings a disengagement bill that includes heavy penalties for violators. The bill failed on an 8:8 vote.
The eighth vote again the law was almost certainly cast by MK Azmi Bishara (National Democratic Assembly), who accused coalition chairman MK Gideon Sa`ar (Likud) of being absent during the vote. Representatives from the Likud and right wing parties opposed the bill, and Bishara said that the Likud should institute order in its ranks. Bishara noted that he had voted to defeat objections to the bill by right wing parties.
The bill’s fate has not yet been decided. The results of the vote present difficulties in bringing it to the Knesset plenum for final approval. The Knesset Finance Committee has not yet finished discussing the financial sections of the bill.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on December 28, 2004