Former prime minister Naftali Bennett announced on Thursday that the first discussion of his cabinet, should he win the next election, will deal with advancing a quasi-constitutional Basic Law limiting premiers to two terms, in an apparent effort to forestall a single politician from dominating Israel’s politics like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has.

In a statement, Bennett’s spokesman said that supporting this legislation, which will be part of a larger national “stabilization plan,” will be part of all coalition agreements and serve — alongside agreeing to the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into October 7 — as a precondition for joining the government.

According to Bennett’s proposal, going forward prime ministers will be limited to either two terms or eight years in office, whichever is longer.

“The term of office will be considered consecutive even if the prime minister is temporarily incapacitated, or if less than 4 years have passed between terms of office” and a prime minister “will not be able to run again until after an 8-year cooling-off period,” the statement said, adding that “if, during a term, the prime minister reaches the maximum term of office, he will be permitted to complete the full term until a new government is formed.”

The limits would not apply retroactively. In 2019, current premier Benjamin Netanyahu officially passed David Ben-Gurion to become Israel’s longest-serving prime........

© The Times of Israel