Tel Aviv--Getting the legislation through will be the first of many likely challenges for Netanyahu's fledgling coalition.This is a dramatic test for the coalition that will show how it will be able to work within the narrow format of just 61 MPs," said the top-selling Yediot Aharonot of the battle to push through the bill.
Earlier, Edelstein told the radio that he would give the opposition time to express their position and that the bill was unlikely to be voted into law by Tuesday.
But he said the time for opposition would be limited because of the need to put the new government in place.
Netanyahu's alliance was built over weeks of intensive negotiations following a March general election, at the cost of major concessions to his coalition partners and resentment within his own party.
One of the most controversial concessions was to hand the justice portfolio to the far-right Jewish Home party which said it would be given to an outspoken and controversial female MP called Ayelet Shaked.
But since being tapped for the position, Shaked has complained of threats being made against her, including death threats, prompting the Knesset to assign her a protection detail.
Unidentified opponents posted a photomontage of the telegenic MP online wearing a Nazi uniform in an image which prompted the decision to assign her a security guard, Edelstein told army radio.
"We won't allow anyone to threaten parliamentarians and we will do whatever necessary so they can carry out their mission," he said.
The appointment of Shaked, a secular 39-year-old from Tel Aviv, sparked a furious response from the Palestinians who have denounced her as an extremist who "advocated genocide".
They were referring to remarks attributed to her as well as a Facebook post which was deleted but widely picked up by the Israeli media in which she likened the Palestinians to "snakes".
Opposition parties also expressed concern at the nomination of an MP who has been at the forefront of efforts to curb the powers of the Supreme Court.
Netanyahu's new coalition, which was announced late on May 6 -- just an hour before a legal deadline -- comprises five parties: Likud (30 seats), the centre-right Kulanu (10 seats), Jewish Home (eight) and the two ultra-Orthodox parties Shas (seven) and United Torah Judaism (six).
AFP
