Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday decided to delay vote on a proposed bill that entails the annexation of West Bank settlements to Jerusalem.
Chairman of the Israeli government coalition David Bitan said that the vote on Greater Jerusalem bill will be delayed until political coordination with the US is made based on Netanyahu’s instructions.
A ministerial committee was scheduled to vote on Greater Jerusalem bill on Sunday to expedite its submission to the Knesset to be ratified.
Ma’ariv newspaper reported that Netanyahu fears that passing the bill without coordination might affect the Israel-US relations as well as his expected visit to Britain next Wednesday where he is scheduled to meet with Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May.
Greater Jerusalem bill initiated by Israel’s Transportation and Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz and authored by MK Yoav Kisch is aimed at including the settlements of Ma’ale Adumim Beitar Illit Giv’at Ze’ev Gush Etzion and Efrat under the Israeli Jerusalem municipality.
Based on the bill the settlements will become sub-municipalities of Jerusalem and their residents will be given the right to vote in municipal elections.
According to Israeli officials 2017 will witness the approval of 12000 settlement units in the West Bank. Statistics indicate that Israel’s settlement activity in 2017 is over four times higher than 2016.
Such Israeli racist laws spark massive waves of condemnation among Palestinians and the international community.
