JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s parliament passed a law that would allow the prime minister and defense minister to declare war.
The amendment to the country’s Basic Law transfers authority from the government to the smaller Security Cabinet to launch military operations and declare war. It passed Monday evening in a 62-41 vote.
Military operations can be authorized by the prime minister and defense minister alone in “extreme conditions,” though it does not define what they are. The law says it can be invoked “if the issue is necessary due to urgency.”
Prime ministers of Israel previously had to ask the approval of the full Cabinet to go to war.
