The Knesset held an orientation day Sunday for the 48 new MKs who will be sworn in formally in two days. The group met with various representatives from the Knesset and were briefed on the many facets of their new workplace.
Part of the four-hour program included a meeting with the Knesset’s chief accountant, Chaim Avidor, who explained the terms of each MK’s new monthly salary of 38,000 shekels ($10,300), and the accompanying benefits, among them a leased car, two parliamentary aides, and a 68,000-shekel ($18,500) expense allowance.
Knesset Guard Sergeant-at-Arms Brig. Gen. Yossi Grif briefed the incoming MKs on precautions to take in Israel and abroad. Knesset legal adviser Eyal Yinon spoke to the group about proposing new laws, the ethical conduct demanded of an MK and the elements of diplomatic immunity. The new MKs also met with Knesset Secretary Yarden Maller-Horowitz and Knesset Information Center manager Shirli Avrami to hear about the various services at their disposal.
The orientation began with an address by outgoing Knesset Speaker MK Reuven Rivlin and veteran MK Benjmain (Fouad) Ben-Eliezer. Unlike previous Knesset orientations, media outlets were allowed to stay only for the Knesset speaker’s speech and the tour of the building. A Knesset source said this was because “if there were television cameras, the new MKs would hesitate to ask questions that might make them look bad.”
Knesset spokesman Yotam Yakir said that “orientation day is open to the media, both at the beginning and at the end of the new MKs’ tour of the building.”
Source: YISRAEL HAYOM
{Matzav.com Israel}
