Finance Committee Legal Advisor Declares Milvitsky's Budget Votes Invalid Amidst Political Dispute

During the ongoing Operation "Roaring Lion," a political and legal controversy has erupted over late-night votes in the Knesset Finance Committee. The committee's legal advisor, attorney Shlomit Erlich, sent a sharply worded letter to committee chairman MK Hanoch Milvitsky, strongly rejecting his personal accusations and declaring his conduct illegal. Erlich emphasized that the budgetary votes conducted under Milvitsky's leadership are invalid and void.

Erlich criticized Milvitsky for violating procedural rules, noting that his actions contradicted established guidelines and that his justification, citing the end of the Knesset summer session as an emergency, was unfounded. She stated that the chairman's authority to extend committee sessions only applies in exceptional urgent budgetary circumstances, which did not apply here.

The legal advisor also accused Milvitsky of disrupting the Finance Committee's work despite his claim that he acted to prevent government dysfunction. She dismissed his allegations of personal motives as baseless and noted that Milvitsky was aware of the legal flaws in the budget requests for six weeks but failed to address them until suddenly pushing for a vote.

Erlich further revealed that the late-night session included only two MKs besides Milvitsky after opposition members left or were removed, rendering the vote illegitimate. She highlighted the lack of legal review, absence of expert opinions, insufficient budgetary history, and inadequate information provided to MKs before voting. Consequently, the decisions made during this session do not bind the state.

Specifically, votes on budget requests numbered 100 and 18-002 were declared illegal and invalid. Regarding request 21, Erlich stated that if Milvitsky wishes to bring it to a vote in the future, he must correct all procedural defects and conduct a full new discussion.