Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a bill into law this week, which grants the Prime Minister after consulting with the country’s Defense Minister, the power to declare war.
The law, which was passed in the Knesset plenum in second and third readings by a majority of 62 to 41, shifts the power to go to war or to carry out a military operation from the cabinet to the security cabinet – a narrow forum of ministers tasked with outlining the country’s foreign and defense policies.
However, under extreme circumstances and if necessary for reasons of urgency that make it impossible to convene the security cabinet ministers, the new law empowers the prime minister, together with his defense minister, to make the decision with fewer ministers, and even just in consultation with each other.