Knesset advanced Norwegian Law in preliminary reading

The bill will still have to go to the Knesset Law Committee and then back for two more readings in the Knesset Plenum before it becomes law.

Benjamin Netanyahu at the unity government's meeting (photo credit: POOL)
Benjamin Netanyahu at the unity government's meeting
(photo credit: POOL)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition succeeded in passing the expanded Norwegian Law in the preliminary reading in the Knesset Plenum on Wednesday morning by a vote of 66 to 42. 
The bill will still have to go to the Knesset Law Committee and then back for two more readings in the Knesset Plenum before it becomes law. 
The bill, which was postponed a week ago, would enable five ministers in Blue and White and two in other coalition parties to quit the Knesset and be replaced by the next candidates on each party’s list. If the ministers quit the cabinet, they could return to the Knesset at the expense of the new MKs.
 
A separate bill would give new MKs in factions that have split 24 hours to decide which one to join. The bill could allow candidates of Yesh Atid and Telem, which are in the opposition, to instead join Blue and White in the coalition.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid blasted the coalition for saying that the first bill passed by the new government does not create jobs for unemployed Israelis but instead unnecessary political patronage positions. He said the coalition had made the people of Israel their "ATM."