The Knesset
© AP Photo / Ariel SchalitThe opening session of the Knesset
The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, as well as the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee originally decided against the proposal, but it was later passed in the Knesset during a second and third reading, Haaretz newspaper reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been granted the authority to declare war with only defense minister Avigdor Lieberman's approval in extreme situations, according to Haaretz newspaper.

The Knesset approved the amendment 62 to 41, transferring the power to launch a war or significant military operations to the Prime Minister without specifying the makeup of the panel that makes the decision.

Israeli opposition lawmakers argued that the law gives too much power to the smaller "security cabinet," describing the legislation as "severely harmful."

"I think this is another distraction from Netanyahu's shaky legal situation," Member of Knesset (MK) Eyal Ben-Reuven stated.


Comment: Another lawmaker Aida Touma-Suleiman also said prior to the approval of the law that it "will enable two people" to take the Israeli regime and all regional countries into war.
MK Ofer Shelah further accused members of the Israeli coalition of having voted "against their own opinions, in the matter of life and death" under pressure from Netanyahu.

"Netanyahu's contempt for everyone around him and for everything we've learned from our many wars has overtaken the recognition of many good and experienced Knesset members," he said.

The Israeli regime has a long history of waging wars and occupying sovereign states.



The controversial law has been approved in light of unfolding tensions between Iran and Israel, as the Israeli Prime Minister has stated that Iran is continually increasing the range of its nuclear-capable missiles, saying that Israel has thousands of documents showing how Tehran allegedly lied to the world after signing the nuclear agreement, proving that Iran's nuclear program had a military dimension, code-named "Amad Project."


Comment: The United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), refused to assess the statement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tehran's alleged nuclear developments bypassing the agency's control.
"In line with standard IAEA practice, the IAEA evaluates all safeguards-relevant information available to it. However, it is not the practice of the IAEA to publicly discuss issues related to any such information," the agency said in a statement on its website.

On July 14, 2015, the EU and the P5+1 group of countries that includes China, Germany, France, Russia, the UK and the US, signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, with Tehran. The accord has determined a gradual lifting of anti-Iranian sanctions in exchange for Tehran curbing its nuclear program and enabling inspections to ensure that the nature of the program is peaceful.