The document below was submitted as part of the draft for the Basic Law: The State Economy, and it covers the ordinances that will be in effect in a year when the government submitted the state budget earlier than six months before the start of the budget year.
Looks innocuous enough, right? Well, item 5 is a poison pill, which is why, presumably, the smart boys and girls over at Finance put it last, hoping the dupes they work for won’t notice. Here’s what it says:
5. The government will be entitled to confirm that the actions in the balancing plan have been carried out or submit a new budget law for that budget year, in the period stated in Section 36A of the Basic Law: The Knesset, and if it has not done so in the said period, what is stated in Section 36A of the Basic Law: The Knesset shall apply.
If you are a gullible elected official, you’ll scan the text, it’ll look OK, and you’ll sign it.
Now, Section 36A of the Basic Law: The Knesset is also titled: “Dispersal due to non-endorsement of the Budget Law (Amendment No. 30) 5761-2001.” You’re starting to get it?
The section reads: “If the budget law is not passed within three months of the beginning of the fiscal year, the day after the end of the said period (hereinafter – the determining day) will be considered as if the Knesset decided to dissolve before the end of its term of office, and early elections will be held on the last Tuesday before the end of the 90 days from the determining day … and no later than 100 days from the determining date.”
Did the smart boys and girls over at Finance do anything illegal? Probably not. Did they plant a poison pill in the new basic law? You bet. Should Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich read them the riot act and maybe bring in better advisers? It’s his call.
But if I were he, I’d hire a food taster for the Bourekas pastry they serve him during those long meetings. And the juice, too. You know what? Stick to just water, Bezalel. And check to see if the elevator is there before you set foot in it.
I’m just saying.
