Israeli Parliament Defends Emergency Finance Committee Meeting Amid Budget Transfer Dispute

The Israeli Knesset submitted its response to the Supreme Court on Sunday regarding a petition challenging the Finance Committee meeting held during the election recess on August 4. The petition, filed by Hadash-Ta'al and MK Naama Lazimi, contested the legality of approving six budget transfer requests during that session. The Supreme Court had issued a temporary injunction the following day, halting all transfers except one.

The Knesset argued that convening the committee was lawful, authorized by Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana under special provisions allowing committee meetings during recess in exceptional cases. This procedure followed precedents from previous election recesses. The Finance Committee had initially met on July 29, discussing 33 budget requests, approving 22. A follow-up session was needed to address remaining requests, but opposition objections blocked it. Consequently, Speaker Ohana approved the recess meeting and shortened the required notice period.

The approved budget transfers included internal reallocations of approximately 6 billion shekels within the defense budget, 85 million shekels for teacher organizations, and around 268 million shekels for coalition-related allocations to religious institutions and the religious education administration. Additionally, about 800 million shekels were allocated for government decisions such as the "Summer Freedom School," and 78 million shekels were designated for the Ministry of Religious Services, including 700,000 shekels to Microsoft to prevent IT shutdowns in rabbinical courts.

The Knesset rejected claims that the Speaker exceeded his authority, emphasizing that the Knesset Rules of Procedure have constitutional status under the Basic Law: The Knesset. It also noted that during the 24th Knesset’s election recess, the Speaker had authorized three Finance Committee meetings under similar circumstances after the Arrangements Committee refused approval. The Knesset concluded that this is an internal parliamentary matter with very limited judicial intervention, urging the court to dismiss the petition.