Bill, initiated by Kadima MK Menahem Ben-Sasson, was already approved by the Knesset plenum in first and second readings.
By SHELLY PAZYishai 248.88(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Shas threatened on Wednesday to vote no-confidence against the government if a bill that would more equally distribute assets in divorce cases were brought for a third reading in the Knesset plenum.
The bill, initiated by Kadima MK Menahem Ben-Sasson, was already approved by the Knesset plenum in first and second readings. According to the law, it must be brought for a third reading as soon as possible after being approved in the second.
However, MK Gideon Sa'ar (Likud), a member of the agreements committee established earlier this week to ensure that only crucial bills that have already been prepared for first, second and third readings are brought for Knesset approval before the end of the session, gave in to Shas's demand and agreed not to bring it for a third reading.
Although Sa'ar's decision prevented the bill's third reading on Wednesday, the bill will most likely pass. Knesset legal adviser Nurit Elstein looked into the dispute and said there was no legal justification for Shas's attempts to sabotage the bill's approval, since it had already been approved by the Knesset and the third reading was more of a formal procedure.
Shas made the threat in the plenum despite the fact that the bill was supported by most of the house's factions and that the no-confidence vote could not succeed in any case.
Kadima members speculated on Wednesday that Sa'ar, who chairs the Committee on the Status of Women and has supported the bill so far, was trying to ensure future cooperation if Likud won the elections and wanted to form a coalition with Shas.
Sa'ar refused to comment on the matter.
Ben-Sasson said he would look into all options for resolving the dispute within the Knesset, but he also planned to hold back all the bills he had initiated until Shas withdrew its resistance to this one.
Shas opposed the bill because, they have said, it would weaken the rabbinical courts' authority. The bill, which was worded by national religious lawyers, would arrange for the woman to receive equal funds in a divorce case and requires separate trials for the divorce itself and for the distribution of assets.
Ben-Sasson, who chairs the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, said that "Shas's 'brilliant trick' on the eve of elections recess has turned into a trap. Shas's aggressive conduct aims to prevent the vote on the law despite the legal opinion of the Knesset legal adviser, Nurit Elstein, and against the Knesset's regulations. Now that the Knesset is going into an election period, it is even more essential to send a message of obligation to the law... and the legal adviser's instructions, and not to factions who try to thwart bills that improve women's condition in Israel."
Shas also refused to comment.
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