Motion of No-Confidence in the Government
Article 28 of Basic Law: the Knesset states that the Knesset is entitled to express no-confidence in the Government. The law determines that the expression of no-confidence in the Government shall be done by means of a resolution of the Knesset, adopted by a majority of its Members to express confidence in an alternative Government that shall announce the basic guidelines of its policy, its make-up and the distribution of functions among the Ministers. The new Government shall be established once the Knesset has expressed confidence in it.
A motion of no-confidence in the Government can be done by means of a proposed item for the agenda or as a motion at the close of a debate on an item on the agenda (but not in a preliminary debate on a bill or motion for the agenda).
A motion to express no-confidence in the Government, which is usually submitted as a proposed item for the agenda, must be submitted until the close of the Knesset sitting on the last day of the week's deliberations, usually on Wednesday. The debate on the motion will take place the following Monday. A motion of no-confidence is submitted in writing to the Speaker of the Knesset, and it must include explanatory notes. The written consent of the Knesset Member, who will be assigned the task of forming the Government in the event that the motion is adopted by a majority of the Knesset Members, must be attached to the motion of no-confidence.
The parliamentary group that submitted the motion of no-confidence explains the reasons behind it within a ten-minute timeframe. In the event that a number of motions of no-confidence have been submitted, the parliamentary groups explain their motions, each within a ten-minute timeframe. The Government, by means of one of its Ministers, shall present its response to the motion of no-confidence, and if several motions have been submitted on various topics, the Government presents its answer after each one. Following the Government's response, a parliamentary group debate is held, and if several motions of no-confidence have been submitted, a consolidated parliamentary group debate is held. At the conclusion of the debate, the Knesset votes on the motion or motions of no-confidence.
A motion to express no-confidence in the Government, which is brought as a motion at the end of the debate on an item on which a vote takes place, occurs during the first Knesset sitting of the week following the week in which it was submitted, unless the Government requests that it be debated immediately. On a motion of this sort a single vote takes place only - both on the item on the agenda, and on the issue of the expression of no-confidence in the Government.
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