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Does Israel's new 'suspension bill' suppress democracy?

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hails the "suspension bill" authorizing the Knesset to suspend Knesset members in certain cases, critics claim that the proposal is anti-democratic.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) chats with members of his party during a meeting of his Likud party meeting in the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem February 8, 2016. A bill that opponents say targets Israeli human rights groups critical of Israel's policies towards the Palestinians was set to win initial approval in parliament on Monday with the support of the country's right-wing. It is widely expected to receive preliminary approval in the Knesset late on Monday.   REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTX
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Speaking at a closed conference organized by the Israel Democracy Institute on Feb. 15, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein sounded resolute and confident, saying he was opposed to the suspension bill being promoted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “As long as I am speaker of the house, this bill will not be sponsored,” Edelstein said. This legislation comes in response to the outcry following the visit Balad Party lawmakers (of the Arab party Joint List) paid to the families of terrorists from East Jerusalem earlier in February. The proposed bill aims at suspending serving legislators for “conduct unbecoming of their status as Knesset members.”

Edelstein’s position justly grabbed the media’s attention. He was the first and only Likud Party Knesset member to oppose the bill initiated and promoted by the premier. President Reuven Rivlin — himself a Likud diehard — lambasted the dangerous bill, which he said “reflects a problematic understanding of what democracy is all about.” However, he is no longer a Knesset member and therefore not bound by the prime minister or Likud voters.

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