Coalition unclear of votes to pass crucial settlement bill
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Roshan Amiri
- . June 6, 2022
- . Update: June 6, 2022 7:04 pm
Israel– With the coalition facing a critical vote on Israeli law in the West Bank, it is still not clear if it would be able to secure the required votes to pass the bill that would be key to its survival.
The bill is set to renew a longstanding measure extending Israeli law to those living in the West Bank. The measure has to be renewed every five years, and a failure in its passage could have far-reaching consequences. It is unclear if MK Idit Silman of PM Naftali Bennett’s Yamina party will vote on the bill. Moreover, support from the Islamist Ra’am party also remained unsure as of Sunday evening.
Ra’am officials are due to meet to decide on the matter. Haaretz said that Foreign Minister Yair Lapid was due to meet with party officials to attempt to secure its support for the bill.Sources said coalition officials weighed whether to call for the vote a motion of confidence as a tactic to pressure both Silman and Ra’am.
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If Silman opposed the measure, in such a case, it could serve as an ideal ground to declare her a defector, causing devastating sanctions that could destroy her political career. The networks reported that opposition figures were forcing Ra’am MK Mazen Ganaim not to back the bill — whose support for the coalition has been tenuous.
The measure has become a hurdle for the fragile government led by Bennett, which has the support of only 60 of the Knesset’s 120 MKs. In recent weeks, the coalition has found it difficult to keep its MKs and parties in check, bringing the government to the verge of a collapse amid a long-running series of tensions over policy positions and security tiffs. A vote on the bill was stopped by Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar last week after the coalition felt there was no majority to pass it.
