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Governments have blocked private member’s bills that might undermine their stability for years. Last April, for instance, then-Knesset Speaker Benny Gantz blocked hundreds of such bills, including one meant to prevent a criminal defendant from becoming prime minister and one meant to limit the prime minister to two terms. Three weeks ago, then-Speaker Yariv Levin blocked similar bills that were aimed largely at then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Nevertheless, the opposition – most of which was in the government until this week – protested the move. Shas lawmaker Yinon Azoulay wrote Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy that “preventing a Knesset member from legislating is a major blow to the fabric of parliamentary life,” and “fear of ‘wars’ or ‘trolling’ isn’t a sufficient reason for not advancing” private member’s bills.