This item is to discuss the succession of Israeli Governments, following
the assassination of Rabin and the 7 day mourning period.
The Israeli legal system has some very strange quirks, so I am
posting this to help to understand them. It is fairly long.  

Comments about the assassination or Rabin belong in world 64, not here.
-srw




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                    Israel Information Service Gopher
  Information Division              Israel Foreign Ministry - Jerusalem
              Mail all Queries to   ask@israel-info.gov.il
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All the texts, in English, of the eulogies delivered at the funeral of the
late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin are now available in a special section
on the Main Menu of the Israel Information Service gopher (gopher
israel-info.gov.il) and on the Israel Foreign Ministry web site
(http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il) under Israel Update.

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BRIEFING BY CABINET SECRETARY SHMUEL HOLLANDER ON LEGAL SITUATION OF THE
ISRAELI INTERIM GOVERNMENT
Government Press Office, November 7, 1995

Hollander: According to Israeli law, when a prime minister dies, the
government is considered to have resigned. In other words, we now have an
interim government -- or transition government, as we say in Hebrew. Since
we must have a prime minister, according to the law, the government must
assign one of its ministers who is a member of the Knesset to be acting
prime minister. The president, according to the law, must begin a
procedure to form a new, permanent government; permanent, that is, until
elections are held.

Let me explain the significance of the interim government. This is the
strongest form of government we can have -- because such a government
cannot resign, and no minister can resign from it. On the other hand, no
other member can join the government from outside. Most importantly, the
Knesset cannot vote on a non-confidence motion, so the government is very,
very strong. Theoretically, this type of interim government can continue
functioning until the elections if, because of some reasons which I will
explain, a permanent government is not constituted.

After the seven days of mourning, President Ezer Weizman will be
consulting with representatives of parties in the Knesset in order to
assign a Member of Knesset to try and form a government; as it seems now,
I believe the person will be Shimon Peres. He will have 21 days to try and
form a government. If he should not succeed within these 21 days, he can
ask for an additional period, up to a 42-day limit. If he does not succeed
by then, another Member of Knesset will be assigned.

There are all kinds of legal possibilities. Shimon Peres can, for
instance, try to form the same government, or a government based on the
same parties or coalition as now. Of course, there could be changes in
portfolios among the ministers, but the political situation is the same,
with the same parties forming the same government.

There is another possibility: he can try to form a broader coalition; some
other parties may join the coalition. This is also a legal possibility. He
can try to form the same government -- coming to the president and saying
"this is my government" -- and, afterwards, try to add more parties to the
coalition. And there is also another possibility: he could say that there
is a problem, that the coalition is not strong enough, and that he does
not have enough support in the Knesset -- and, since elections are due
only in about a year, he can try to pass a law to have the elections
earlier. Of course, he needs a majority in the Knesset, because it can
only be done by law; otherwise, the date of the elections remains November
1996. This is the legal situation as it stands now.

Q: Does Peres not have the power, like in the British parliamentary
system, to tell the President that he lacks support, and that he will
therefore recommend the dissolution of the Knesset?

A: Yes, that is correct.

Q: Would the legal situation be different two years from now, when the
prime minister is directly elected?

A: The legal situation is based on the present law. We have a new Basic
Law: Government, which will only be valid after the next election. After
November 1996, if the election takes place in November 1996, the situation
is going to be completely different, because the prime minister is going
to be elected directly by the people -- who will vote for both the Knesset
and the prime minister. Had this tragic event happened two years from now,
we would have had to hold elections for prime minister.

Q: Does the 42 days you mentioned include the 21 days, or are they
additional?

A: Yes, you have 21 days, after which you can ask for additional time. The
total limit is 42 days. If you do not succeed within 42 days, then
somebody else is selected. The President must ask Shimon Peres to form a
Government -- and, although he could do this immediately, he will wait
until after the seven-day mourning period out of respect for the deceased.

Q: If the elections were called earlier, would the prime minister stand
for direct election?

A: Yes, because the new law would take effect.

Q: When there is a direct election for the prime minister, will candidates
be selected through primaries?

A: Yes, of course. The date set for the primaries is March 1996.
Naturally, if the election is moved up, the primaries will also take place
earlier.

Q: If Peres does not succeed after 42 days, and a second Member of Knesset
is also unsuccessful in forming a government, what happens next?

A: The interim government continues until the elections. There cannot be a
vacuum; we cannot afford to be without a government -- even if it is an
interim government which is, as I said before, quite a strong government.
This government has full authority and can function without any problem.
Of course, theoretically, it can function until the elections if nobody
succeeds in forming a new government, and if there are no early elections.
Thus, in theory, it can continue until November 1996. At the same time, if
early elections are not called, and nobody succeeds in forming a
government, the President has no power to force a solution; when this
happened before, however, early elections were held, as they probably
would be in this case.

Q: If Peres fails, does each subsequent person also have 42 days?

A: Yes.

Q: If Peres wants to call early elections, is there a time limit?

A: When you call for early elections, you have to do it in accordance with
a law -- so it would depend what the law says. Of course, there are some
technical obstacles, because some preparations have to be made. Usually, a
minimum of about 60 days is needed. Further, according to the regulations
of the political parties in Israel, primaries are also a must -- and this
too will take time, which should be taken into consideration. Given this,
I would say that it would take at least three or four months before
elections could be held.

Q: Are there any kind of restrictions regarding the Government's treatment
of the peace process?

A: None whatsoever. It is 100 percent a government -- and even more,
because regular government is always in jeopardy. There have been at least
200 Knesset no-confidence votes which, while not succeeding, did not
always let ministers travel abroad and the like. An interim government
does not have this kind of problem; it has immunity. Nevertheless, the
Acting Prime Minister will still be interested in forming a permanent
government. First of all, he may want to make some portfolio changes among
the ministers -- and there is a legal question as to whether he can do
this in an interim government. Secondly, from the public point of view,
this is not a good situation: dealing with it is a must because we cannot
function without a government, but the better alternative is to have a
normal government. Therefore, I believe that Acting Prime Minister Peres
will prefer to have a permanent, stable government as soon as possible.

Q: Can he appoint, for instance, a new defense minister?

A: According to the law, he now automatically becomes defense minister. He
is now Acting Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and also
Minister of Defense.

Q: If Peres foresees that any government he tries to create will fall on a
vote of no-confidence, and thus stays with the interim government, is
there anything technical that forces him to make an attempt at creating a
government to present to the President?

A: He has a time limit -- so , if makes no attempt, the President will
necessarily assign someone else.

Q: Are you saying that Peres cannot legally make any portfolio changes in
the interim government?

A: It is a legal question, because there are two articles which somewhat
contradict each other. There is no conclusive answer. This could possibly
be a reason to call for a new government.

Q: Is there some historical precedent that might shed some light on the
legal situation?

A: Since 1948, we have had 25 governments, so we have had all types of
political crises. There was a case when a prime minister died in office --
Levi Eshkol in 1969; Golda Meir then became prime minister. When Rabin
stepped down in 1977, and Peres became prime minister until elections were
held. Peres was not then acting prime minister in an interim cabinet
because Rabin had not actually resigned; he suspended himself because of
some legal problems he experienced.

Q: If Peres were to become incapacitated, is there a natural No. 2 while
the interim government is in office?

A: Legally, Peres was not No. 2; he was a political No. 2. The government
could also decide to assign some other minister as an acting prime
minister. Peres, however, was chosen by a vote of the Government -- and
that was natural because he was second in Labor. Of course, any other
person selected would have to be from among the Cabinet, since no external
appointments can be made in an interim government.

Q: Is there a legal limit to the number of portfolios someone can hold?

A: No, but the Supreme Court quite often interferes in these matters. I
believe that, theoretically, holding two portfolios is fine, but three
could be a problem. Of course, we had this problem before when the late
Prime Minister Rabin was Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, Minister of
Health, Minister of Religious Affairs and Minister of the Interior -- and
it was strongly implied that the Supreme Court would not stand for this.

Q: Given the lack of a constitution, could the Knesset change this
procedure if it wanted to do so?

A: Yes it could. In fact, the new law on the direct election of the prime
minster -- about which there is a debate about whether it is a good law or
not -- could also be challenged before the next elections.

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