Israel Matzav

Shame on the Likud and their partners

On Sunday, I reported on a proposed law that would apply Israeli civil law to Israelis who live in Judea and Samaria. The law's main goal was to take the right to approve construction in Judea and Samaria out of the hands of Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

Later on Sunday, the law came up for a vote in the Ministerial Committee for Legislation. And it was unanimously voted down.

The result is that all coalition members are expected to vote against the bill when it comes to a vote in the Knesset on Wednesday, which will then bury it for another six months. The bill was first proposed four years ago by then-MK Rabbi Benny Elon, and was co-signed by numerous Likud MKs - including Binyamin Netanyahu; the Likud was in the Opposition at the time. The bill foundered, but it was re-submitted by MK Katz in the present Knesset and came up for a vote in the Ministerial Committee for Legislation one year ago. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu asked Ketzaleh to postpone the vote for three months, and Ketzaleh agreed.

Since then, the Committee - which is headed by Justice Minister Yaakov Ne'eman - has ignored requests by Ketzaleh to discuss the bill again. Minister Benny Begin, who has been the acting head of the committee lately, declared that "an injustice has been done to the NU" and that he would raise the bill for a vote in the committee posthaste.

The Committee voted unanimously against the bill. Besides Ne'eman and Begin, the Committee includes Ministers Gideon Saar, Yuli Edelstein, Gilad Erdan, Moshe Cachlon, Michael Eitan, Limor Livnat, Dan Meridor, Yossi Peled, Yisrael Katz, and Yuval Steinitz (all of the Likud), Yitzchak Aharonovich, Sofa Landver, Orit Noked, Stas Misezhnikov [all of Yisrael Beiteinu. CiJ], Meshulam Nahari, Daniel Hershkowitz, Yaakov Mergi [Nahari and Mergi of Shas, Hershkowitz of Jewish Home-NRP. CiJ] and Shalom Simchon [of Ehud Barak's Independence party. CiJ].

Knesset Coalition Chairman MK Ze'ev Elkin (Likud) put pressure on Ketzaleh to withdraw the bill yet again, so as to save Likud embarrassment. However, Ketzaleh refused.

"On Wednesday," Ketzaleh said, "the Nation of Israel will have to see with its own eyes who is loyal to the Land of Israel in talk and signatures but turns his back on it when the time comes for action - and who is truly loyal."

Unfortunately, the loyalists are in short supply. What could go wrong?

Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak, Judea and Samaria construction, Yaakov Katz

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:24 PM