i24 News – Israeli lawmakers on Monday night voted down a proposal to extend emergency regulations to Jewish communities outside of the Green Line in another blow to the coalition. The Knesset plenum rejected the first reading of the bill that has been approved every five years since 1967.
The vote was 52 votes for and 58 against, with coalition members Mazen Ghnaim of Ra’am and Meretz MK Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi joining the opposition in voting against the bill.
Yamina MK Idit Silman was absent from the Knesset.
In presenting the regulations, Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar called passage critical for the residents of the West Bank, a territory referred to by the Israeli government as Judea and Samaria.
“This is not another law, but the operating system of the rule of law in Judea and Samaria,” Sa’ar pleaded.
“The importance of the regulations is to regulate the legal status of half a million Israeli citizens living in Judea and Samaria. But not only that. The regulations contain other critical arrangements that are essential for the functioning of the State of Israel and the security of Israeli citizens.”
Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that he was looking for a non-legislative solution to applying civilian law to Israelis living in the West Bank.
“I instructed the defense system to map out which regulations can be brought by regional commanders if the legislation gets stuck,” he said.
Yawn. Same old nonsense. Unless TERM LIMITS become the law of the land, the Israeli government has no future.