The initiative received 66 votes for and 49 against on Monday evening, with which it passes to that body’s Constitution and Law Committee before it is returned to the plenary session for a second and third vote.

As announced, the Joint List, an alliance of left and Arab parties, added its six votes to the Government coalition to push the measure.

The legislators of the right-wing Likud party criticized the proposal, considering it a “personal law” against its leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who governed this country for 15 years, 12 of them uninterruptedly.

Despite the criticisms, if the bill promoted by Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar is approved, it will not be retroactively implemented, so that the ultra-nationalist politician could run for office again.

The initiative foresees that any Knesset member accused of a crime that includes a minimum three-year sentence will be banned from heading a government.

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