‘Reasonableness’ bill okayed for final Knesset votes next week, as opposition fumes

Amid tumultuous scenes, a Knesset committee on Wednesday night okayed a controversial bill drastically limiting use of the reasonableness judicial standard for final approval by the plenum, paving the way for the coalition to pass a part of its far-reaching judicial overhaul for the first time.

The second and third readings on the bill, an amendment to Basic Law: Judiciary,  will begin on Sunday in the Knesset plenum, and the bill is expected to be approved and passed into law on Monday or Tuesday.

The approval came at the end of several marathon sessions by the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, which had to slog through 20,000 objections seemingly meant to gum up the legislation and stop the government from racing ahead with the bill, after compromise talks collapsed last month. READ MORE