Kahlon tosses French Bill 'behind us'
Hoping to put out political fires threatening to bring down the government, Kahlon pours cold water over immunity bill, raises notion of limited terms for prime ministers; pledges to 'vote according to Kulanu's conscience.'
“The prime minister announced yesterday that he doesn’t want any bill that will protect him. We spoke about a package bill that would include a term limit on the premiership, but I think that the issue is behind us. I can assume that in the next few weeks, we won’t hear about it,” Kahlon said during a Kulanu faction meeting.
Kahlon’s remarks came in reference to comments made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday in which he claimed he had no interest in any legislation proposals related to the ongoing corruption investigations being conducted against him.
Speaking for the first time about the controversial bill, which sparked a bitter dispute that threatened to dismantle the government amid a series of internal disagreements, Netanyahu sought to make his position clear.
“Regarding the French Bill, I want to be clear: I am not interested in any bill that relates to the investigations now being conducted against me or currently being conducted that are not related to me,” Netanyahu said during a Likud ministerial meeting.
Kahlon also addressed the most recent bill proposal that would prevent police from recommending indictments.
“On any issue of conscience and values that is not an obligation of the coalition agreement, Kulanu has a free vote. We won’t be forced by anyone to vote against our conscience," he declared.
"Regarding other bills that someone may be planning, they should know that this faction will vote exactly according to its conscience and not according to any coalition agreements. That also applies to the police recommendation issue,” Kahlon declared.
The Finance Minister’s evaluation however appeared to conflict with reports indicating that Netanyahu loyalist and Likud party whip MK David Bitan intended to press ahead with the controversial bill, despite reservations voiced by Bayit Yehudi and other members of the coalition.
