Kadima appeals 2-year budget to High Court

“The government is trying to take political shortcuts,” Bar-On says.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
Ronnie Bar On 88 224 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Ronnie Bar On 88 224
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
The Kadima Party asked the High Court of Justice on Wednesday to cancel the bill that passed in the Knesset last week that enables the government to approve a two-year budget.
In the petition, which was filed by former finance minister Ronnie Bar-On, Kadima asked the court to intervene immediately, before the budget was completed and brought to a vote in the Knesset.
“The petition is intended to save Israeli democracy from the government of Israel,” Bar-On said. “The government is trying to take political shortcuts.”
The petition accuses the government of trying to take powers away from the Knesset, including its ability to topple a government that fails to pass a budget on time. It notes that the bills enabling a two-year budget apply only to the current government.
The High Court criticized past governments for hiding changes to thebudget in the accompanying Arrangements bill, which is often massiveand distributed immediately before a vote, preventing MKs from readingit. The petition said that a two-year budget is even more problematic.
Likud faction chairman Ze’ev Elkin said in response that the two-yearbudget was praised by the head of the International Monetary Fund, whocredited it with revitalizing Israel’s economy and said he wouldrecommend it to other countries.
“Bar-On’s petition is merely yet another embarrassing attempt by the opposition to get headlines,” Elkin said.
Late Wednesday night, the High Court ordered Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin to respond to the petition within 10 days.