"We looked into the possibility of canceling the election. At least 119 MKs don't want an election," Zohar said.

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Israel Hayom reached out to legal scholars to determine if would even be legally feasible to cancel the law dissolving the 21^st Knesset and cancel the September election by security a special majority of at least 80 MKs.

Clause 9a of the Basic Law: The Knesset states that "the Knesset shall not extend its term except by law passed by a majority of eighty members of the Knesset and only if special circumstances exist that prevent holding the elections at their proper time; the period of extension shall not exceed the time necessary due to the aforementioned circumstances; the election date shall be fixed by the aforementioned law."

Professor Aviad Hacohen, dean of the Shaarei Mishpat Academic College, rejected the idea definitively.

"The moment the Knesset dissolved itself, it effectively loses its validity and is considered a transitional Knesset," he explains. In other words, the aforementioned clause does not apply, because it deals with a Knesset that is still in session. Hacohen points out that the clause mainly pertains to an emergency situation in which the date of a Knesset's dispersal can be postponed, although he calls such a situation "unhealthy for democracy."

Unhealthy or not, that situation has already come to pass in Israel once – during the Yom Kippur War. The government under then-Prime Minister Golda Meir and the Knesset extended their term in office due to the defense emergency, even though a Knesset election was scheduled to be held. The parties in the Knesset voted to postpone the election by two months, and the legislative power of the Knesset (which unlike the current was, was still officially in session) was extended accordingly.

"Today, the moment a law to dissolve the Knesset is passed, the clock can't be turned back. It is completely different from '73, when the Knesset had not been dissolved," Hacohen says.

When Israel Hayom asked Hacohen what would happen if a state of emergency were declared, he said that in a state of emergency, the term of the "transitional Knesset" could be extended by no more than a few months, but the law to dissolve it could not be canceled.

Judge (ret.) Oded Mudrick, former deputy president of the Tel Aviv District Court, confirmed Hacohen's opinion.

"The moment the Knesset was dissolved, it ceased to have any legislative authority. One of the areas in which we see this is that it can't pass the state budget," Mudrick says.

"In other words, a Knesset that dissolved itself cannot pass any law that would change things, so there are special provisions for this situation," he says.

Mudrick explains that if the state budget law cannot be passed, then the Knesset can certainly not pass a law canceling the election and reinstating itself.

The post Can the do-over election be canceled? appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The idea of mandatory military service for Ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, who have traditionally been exempt from conscription, has been a spoke in the wheels of the process of putting together the next governing coalition. The main sticking point has been that the haredi factions oppose a law that would impose conscription that was authorized by the defense establishment under former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who says he will not agree to the legislation being altered in the slightest to accommodate the haredi demands.

In response, the haredi factions are working on a solution that would not entail any change to the proposed draft bill, which would mean Lieberman could support it. However, the haredim would seek to add a declaration that is important to their rabbis, which would state that any yeshiva student who wanted to continue studying Torah would be able to do so.

The haredim said the defense establishment could add the rabbinical declaration.

In addition, the haredim want to pass a basic law that would enshrine in law the importance of Torah study, hoping that a basic law would prevent the High Court from rejecting laws exempting yeshiva students from military service on the grounds that the exemption violates the principle of equality.

"The haredi string-pullers are once again trying tricky maneuvers with the IDF's [haredi] draft bill," Lapid wrote on Twitter.

"The draft bill should be passed exactly as it is written. Without additions, without money on the side, without codicils, without a 'Basic Law: The Importance of Torah Study,' whose only purpose is to allow people to evade IDF service," Lapid wrote.

Lapid tagged Lieberman and said, "You gave your word."

One haredi official involved in the negotiations had harsh words for Lieberman in a conversation with Israel Hayom.

"We, along with the [national] religious, represent 20 seats, whereas Lieberman is only worth five," the official said.

"Nevertheless, we are the ones who are willing to take steps to accommodate him. With 20 seats, we could easily demand that a law different from the one the defense establishment wrote be passed, something that we would agree with – and still, we're saying that we're willing to compromise on the Defense Ministry bill, even without changes to it, other than one declarative clause that will ensure that those who study Torah will be able to continue to study Torah," the official continued.

"The Defense Ministry's draft bill is inconvenient for the haredi world, and yet we're the ones who are compromising. Avigdor Lieberman doesn't even need to dial back his demand that the bill pass as-is," the official said.

Meanwhile, the National Union responded on Tuesday to a report in Israel Hayom that if Smotrich is not given the justice portfolio, he will ask for the public security portfolio and seek the authority to appoint a new police commissioner.

Smotrich stressed on Tuesday that if he did not receive the justice portfolio, he would seek the education portfolio. According to his agreement with Habayit Hayehudi chairman Rafi Peretz, whose party ran with the National Union on a joint ticket, Smotrich has the first pick of portfolios. However, despite his denials, party sources said it was possible that Smotrich would agree to serve as public security minister.

The post Lapid criticizes haredi 'maneuvering' on draft bill appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.