Three-year IDF cooling-off period targets Netanyahu's rivals
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is blocking attempts to shorten the three-year wait required of former defense officials before entering politics so that none of them will threaten his rule.
This week, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation considered Knesset member Yaakov Peri’s proposal to reduce the period before people leaving the security forces (the Israel Defense Forces, police, Shin Bet and Mossad) can enter politics from three years to one. The "cooling-off" law stipulates that retired security establishment members must wait three years from the day they leave their posts before they are permitted to run in any kind of political elections or participate in any formal political activity. The declared purpose of the law is to make sure that there is no conflict of interest between an individual's military activity and future political aspirations.
Before the committee held its vote, Peri, a former director of the Shin Bet, met with most of the committee’s members, including its chairwoman, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked. He left these talks with the impression that they agreed that the law kept Israeli public figures of the highest quality from entering politics. Peri stressed to the committee members how important it was for their vote to be based on the issue at hand, rather than on narrow political motives.
