Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar tabled a bill Monday to limit the tenure of an Israeli prime minister to a maximum of eight years.
However, the law would not apply retroactively: as a result, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could conceivably serve eight more years as Israel’s leader if he wins another election.
Netanyahu holds the record as Israel’s longest serving prime minister, with 15 (nonconsecutive) years under his belt.
“The commitment to limit a prime minister’s tenure is part of the New Hope platform, and has also been included in the government’s guidelines,” Sa’ar said in a statement.
“Too long a rule brings with it a concentration of power and the danger of corruption, and therefore it is right to include in the Basic Law the principle of limiting a prime minister’s tenure,” Sa’ar said.
Sa’ar was a longtime member of Netanyahu’s Likud party and a years-long opponent of the former prime minister until 2020, when he quit to form “New Hope” prior to the 2021 national election.