The Knesset plenum on Monday approved in a second and third reading a law extending maternity leave from 12 to 14 weeks.

95 MKs supported the law and none opposed it.

The law also extends multiple birth maternity leave from 14 to 17 weeks.

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The law will go into effect within days, benefiting women who are due to give birth as early as next week.

139,000 new mothers will enjoy the extended leave each year. According to treasury estimates, the new law will cost between NIS 220-400 million a year. Thus, the law was considered a budgetary legislation and required at least 50 votes to pass.

The 12-week maternity leave was instituted in 1954. Chairman of the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women Gideon Sa'ar (Likud), one of the initiators of the maternity leave extension law, said that in 1954 Israel had been one of the countries with the most forward legislation regarding maternity leave, and as time passed, Israel has lagged behind other Western countries. In Ireland, mothers enjoy an 18-week leave, and in British mothers enjoy a 26-week leave. 14 weeks is the minimum allowed by the European Union.

The World Health Organization recommends that mothers refrain from working 4-6 weeks before the birth, and don't return to work for another 16 weeks after the birth. The International Labor Organization states that mothers should be allowed at least a 14-week leave, and be paid enough to provide for herself and the newborn while she is not working. Israel's legislation allows the father to enjoy part of the mother's leave, up to half, as long as it is coordinated between them and they are not on leave at the same time.

Labor MK Shelly Yachimovitch, who helped draft the law, said "14 weeks are the minimum amount of time needed to recover and cultivate a healthy relationship with the infant."

Hadash MK Dov Hanin, another of the law's authors, said "this is a significant improvement in the lives of young families in Israel." He added that support from the public and the combining of efforts within the political establishment can overcome the government which "resisted the proposal during every legislative stage."

Sa'ar said that shortly before the vote, the coalition pressured him to postpone the date the law would go into effect until 2008, but he declined and emphasized that he would fight for this law if the need arises. The risk in such a delay is the possibility that the law would be overturned by the government before it goes into effect.