“This is a very exciting moment,” said Knesset member Ram Shefa of the Blue and White party in addressing the Knesset plenary on June 24 as he introduced legislation regulating the cannabis market in Israel. He knew his historic bill was assured a majority at the first Knesset hearing after the ultra-Orthodox Knesset members, the legislation’s staunchest opponents, cut a deal with coalition Chair Miki Zohar to absent themselves from the vote.
Zohar is considered one of the politicians closest to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the cannabis legislation would not have stood a chance without the prime minister’s approval. However, this was not the only reason for the elation of cannabis liberalization proponents. In addition to its preliminary approval of Shefa’s bill (it needs to be approved in two more hearings to be enacted), the Knesset also approved a draft bill decriminalizing the personal use of cannabis. Its author, Likud Knesset member Sharren Haskel, led the fight for cannabis legalization in recent years and was instrumental in convincing Netanyahu to go along.