The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, has given new power to the prime minister on Monday (30/4). The decision stated that the Israeli prime minister needs only to get approval from the defense minister to decide the war.
The Knesset voted to amend the law which previously required all members of the cabinet to vote in deciding the war. The authority was then awarded only to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
The Knesset approved the amendment in a 62-41 vote, allowing Netanyahu and Lieberman to declare war in extreme situations. The amendment was announced by Netanyahu in his speech on Monday (30/4) at Israel's Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv.
According to the Haaretz newspaper, the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and Constitution, Law and Justice Committee initially opposed the amendment. But the Knesset then approves it after the second and third discussions.
Although Netanyahu is still in need of approval from Lieberman, it is not uncommon for Israeli prime ministers to be appointed as defense ministers while still in office. David Ben-Gurion, Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, Ehud Barak, and Shimon Peres all served as defense ministers while still serving as prime minister.
In addition to announcing the amendment, Netanyahu's speech aims to urge the United States (US) to cancel or re-negotiate Iran's nuclear deal. The deal was reached between Iran and the United States, France, Russia, Germany, China, Britain and the European Union in 2015.
According to him, after signing the deal, Iran is still intensifying efforts to hide its nuclear weapons program. Iranian state television later called Netanyahu's allegations a propaganda.