The 26th Knesset opened its term Tuesday with a ceremonial swearing-in at the Knesset building in Jerusalem, attended by President Yitzchak Herzog. All 120 members took the oath of office, including 46 first-time MKs entering the chamber for the first time. Before the ceremony had even concluded, opposition factions began rolling out their legislative agenda.
26th Knesset
Lapid, Eisenkot file bills on day one
26th Knesset sworn in as 120 MKs take oath; opposition parties immediately submit legislation to cap prime minister's tenure at eight years and reverse previous government's judicial overhaul
The Yisrael Beiteinu faction, led by Gadi Eisenkot, and the Yesh Atid faction, led by Yair Lapid, submitted a series of bills aimed at overhauling the structure of government and reversing changes to the judicial system enacted by the outgoing coalition.
Yisrael Beiteinu announced it would file a bill to establish a state commission of inquiry into the events of the October 7, 2023 massacre. A second major proposal seeks to amend Basic Law: The Government to impose term limits on the prime minister.
Alongside those initiatives, the faction submitted bills to repeal laws and amendments advanced by the previous government as part of its judicial reform program. These include repealing the law that altered the status and authority of the Attorney General in matters of legal opinions, representation, and oversight; repealing the amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary; repealing Amendment 105 to the Courts Law; and repealing Amendment 45 to the Police Ordinance.
Additional proposals target the repeal of amendments to the Communications Law (Broadcasting) and the cancellation of override provisions inserted into Basic Law: The Government.
At the same time, Yesh Atid chairman and former prime minister Yair Lapid announced three central bills of his own. One of them also addresses limiting the prime minister's tenure to eight years.
A second Lapid proposal seeks to enshrine the Declaration of Independence in a Basic Law, making it the first chapter of a future Israeli constitution. The third initiative would establish a framework for civil partnership. Under the proposal, couples, both men and women, could register in a civil partnership registry and receive legal recognition within a civil family framework.
Presenting the initiatives, Lapid said: "We will continue to be the voice of liberal Israel in the Knesset, and we will work to repair the State of Israel."
The 26th Knesset includes 59 members who did not serve in the outgoing Knesset, 46 of whom are entering the role for the first time. The youngest is Yonatan Shalev, born in 2002, from Yesh Atid, while the oldest is Haim Katz, born in 1947, from Likud. The new Knesset will have 33 women and 87 men, bringing the share of women to approximately 27 percent of all members.
By education, the incoming Knesset includes 11 members holding doctorates, 55 with master's degrees, and 29 with bachelor's degrees. Ten of the elected members come from bereaved families.
