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Part Two - The Structure of the Government and its Reduction

Opposition to Excessive Legislation

There is a perception that the efficacy of Knesset members is measured by the quantity of laws they pass. The most active legislators are perceived to be more involved, more caring, and as public servants who really care about their constituents. They often receive compliments from the media and titles such as "legislative champions."

Zehut sees things differently. Because the state should minimize its exercise of power over citizens as much possible, the necessity of any law must be examined with maximum care. We do not seek to regulate every aspect of civil life through legislation – quite the opposite. We believe that the state should interfere less and leave as much freedom as possible in the hands of the citizens.

Apart from the harm to liberty and quality of life of the citizens, excessive legislation has additional serious consequences. It may give an unfair advantage to interested parties and cronies at the expense of their competitors and the public. It may harm the economy in ways that are often impossible to predict[14]. It may even create new areas of activity for organized crime. To all this must be added the significant cost of application and enforcement of new laws, a cost which is imposed on taxpayers.

As a consequence of its opposition to excessive legislation, Zehut will carefully weigh all new bills and vote against any bill that has no real need. Likewise, Zehut will act to cancel unnecessary or harmful laws that have already passed.

In addition, we intend to promote a requirement that the cost of any new bill be evaluated by a representative of the Ministry of Finance and presented to the Knesset plenum during the first reading[15].

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[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobra_effect.

[15] Today, only a private bill (that is, a proposal made by a Knesset member) must receive a cost estimate from the Ministry of Finance, which is presented to the government. We will expand the requirement so that it will apply to laws proposed by the government or one of the Knesset committees, and we will insist that the data be presented to the plenum.

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