Norwegian Law (Israel)
The Norwegian Law, initially Mini-Norwegian Law for its first version, is a name given to an amendment to Article 42c of the Basic Law: The Knesset. The law allows ministers or deputy ministers to resign from the Knesset, and upon resigning their ministerial post, return to the Knesset. Upon their resignation from the Knesset, the next member on the party's list enters the Knesset, and upon their return of the Knesset, the member with the lowest order on the party's list leaves the Knesset. The legislation became known as the "Norwegian Law", due to a similar provision in Article 62 of the Constitution of Norway, requiring a member of the Storting to resign their seat and be replaced by a deputy. This system of dualism, separating the cabinet and the legislature, also exists in Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Portugal, Estonia, and other countries.
History
The concept was originally promoted by the Degel HaTorah faction of United Torah Judaism. UTJ had dropped from seven seats to six in the 2015 election, so Degel MK Ya'akov Asher lost his seat, leaving the faction with only two of the six. The faction wanted then-Deputy Education Minister Meir Porush of Agudat Yisrael to resign, so Asher could replace him as next on the list.The original version of the law was approved by the Knesset by a vote of 64–51 on 30 July 2015, and limited each party to one resignation and replacement at a time. It was implemented due to the fact that many Israeli cabinets had so many ministers, who restricted in functions in Knesset. They could not serve on committees, as officers, or propose legislation. The law also alleviated concerns about separation of powers.
An expanded version of the law was passed on 15 June 2020 by a vote of 66–43 and became part of the Basic Law, and allowed all ministers, except the Prime Minister, to resign and be replaced. The change was promoted by Benny Gantz because most of his Blue and White MKs are ministers and deputies, and cannot also serve on Knesset committees or day-to-day operations.
The law was further expanded in January 2023, after the 2022 election, and passed 65 to 18. The expansion allows smaller parties with less than four MKs to use of the law, so they can replace half of their ministers. Parties sized between four and eighteen retained the same limits, and parties of over eighteen MKs can replace one-third of their ministers, instead of the original five. The Knesset Department of Budget Control found it would cost NIS 1.95 million per new MK.