Stymied in their efforts to oversee government activities, MKs flood the Knesset with unnecessary bills to gain publicity and build up their personal portfolios, the Knesset House Committee was told on Sunday in a special session on government-Knesset relations.

Ministers and government clerks belittle the Knesset, don’t show up for hearings and don’t provide proper answers to questions asked by MKs, several MKs noted.

“There’s no doubt that this situation is improper and intolerable,” Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, the government’s liaison to the Knesset, surprised those present by saying. He suggested several options, such as cracking down on ministers who don’t come to the Knesset when summoned.

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It was MK Karin Elharar (Yesh Atid) who revealed the MKs’ dirty little secret – lacking oversight powers, they simply write bills, many of them superfluous. “To keep themselves in the public eye they submit more and more bills,” she said. “When you have nothing substantial to do, you make work for yourself.”

MK Karin Elharar in the Knesset, 2013. Credit: Michal Fattal

During every Knesset term MKs submit thousands of bills; some are meant to advance an agenda, while some are meant to burnish the legislator’s image. Other bills aim to fill the vacuum left by uncooperative government ministries; instead of the ministries moving things forward by issuing regulations, the Knesset forces them to act via legislation.

More than 60 percent of parliamentary queries to government ministries are not answered in a timely fashion or aren’t answered at all, despite the tough guidelines on this matter. “I submitted a query to the Economy Ministry eight months ago. We’ve changed ministers twice and we still haven’t gotten an answer,” said Elharar. MK Yoel Hasson (Zionist Union), who had initiated the hearing, said, “From term to term it’s getting worse. We’re running after ministers to get answers.”

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Levin conceded that he often finds himself responding to queries too late, mainly because seeking the information can take time and if the person needed is sick or on vacation, it’s hard to get the data. He also noted that the quality of the answers he receives is often below par, and he must often “go back three times for corrections and clarifications.”

Levin suggested a package deal: a marked reduction in the number of private member’s bills submitted, in return for new and better tools for overseeing government operations. He said he’d discussed the issue with Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and the changes could be made during this Knesset term.

Among Levin’s suggestions: Allowing the Knesset to conduct public hearings on some government appointments; follow up on the number of queries submitted vs. answers received; improve the rate of ministers’ appearance before the Knesset, and to set up a mechanism to prevent the same subject from being debated by three different Knesset committees at the same time. “I suggest that the Knesset give every minister a biweekly report summarizing the status of queries directed to him,” added Levin.

House Committee chairman Yoav Kish (Likud) said he was determined to make these changes and would hold a follow-up hearing on the proposals.