New Israeli Law Allows Netanyahu And Lieberman To Declare War

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and current Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman following Netanyahu’s re-election in 2013. Image by Getty

By JTA May 3, 2018

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Parliament passed a law that would allow the country’s prime minister and defense minister to declare war.

The law passed Monday evening, an amendment to the country’s Basic Law, transfers authority from the government to the smaller Security Cabinet to launch military operations and declare war. It passed by a vote of 62 to 41.

Military operations can be authorized by the prime minister and defense minister alone in “extreme conditions.” The law does not define what are “extreme circumstances,” but says the law can be invoked “if the issue is necessary due to urgency.”

Prime ministers of Israel previously had to ask the approval of the full Cabinet to go to war.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO