Knesset approved extension of the state of emergency declared upon the establishment of Israel

The Knesset plenum approved the extension of the state of emergency that was declared in Israel upon the establishment of the state, and has been extended repeatedly since then. With the declaration of a state of emergency in 1948, it was not precisely defined what such a state was. Extending its validity has two main consequences: authorizing the government to establish emergency regulations that can override Knesset legislation; and the authorization of the Knesset to enact laws that depend on the validity of a state of emergency.
The proposal to extend the state of emergency was submitted on the recommendation of a joint committee to the Knesset's foreign and security and constitution committees, which approved it by a majority of three members against one opponent. Ido Ben Yitzhak, the deputy legal advisor to the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, informed the joint committee meeting that in the last two decades the government rarely used its authority to establish emergency regulations. According to him, between 2005 and 2019, two emergency regulations were installed, both to ensure essential work services at the Atomic Energy Commission. However, since the outbreak of the Corona epidemic in 2020, the government has used this authority almost daily, which has not been the case for decades.
In total, between March and June 2020, the government enacted 38 emergency regulations, many of which were amended several times. In November 2021, the government used this authority once again, following the discovery of the Omicron variant, when a set of emergency regulations was installed that remained in effect for four days. Since the last extension of the state of emergency, in June last year, the government has not used this authority.