Israel Matzav

Netanyahu creates committee to approve Judea and Samaria construction as bill to save Ulpana rejected

In a move that is intended to mollify Israel's Right for the upcoming expulsion of thirty Jewish families from Beit El's Ulpana neighborhood, Prime Minister Netanyahu has taken Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria out of the exclusive control of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and placed it into the hands of an as-yet-unappointed committee.

The Prime Minister’s office has yet to publicize the committee’s composition. It has said, however, that Netanyahu would head the committee and that Defense Minister Ehud Barak would be a member.

Settlers and right wing politicians have long called for Netanyahu to create such a committee, which had existed under past governments.

But a bill that would have saved the Ulpana and two outposts in Samaria from destruction was rejected earlier today by the Knesset 69-22.

By a vote of 69-22, the Knesset has rejected the bill proposed for retroactively legalizing a number of West Bank outposts, including the Ulpana outpost.

Notable was the absence of Science and Technology Minister Daniel Herschkowitz and Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein from the vote.

Both ministers had previously publicly declared that they would vote for the bill even though they would be fired from their cabinet positions.

Despite their public declarations, ultimately they absented themselves from the vote.

Also noteworthy was that most of Yisrael Beytenu voted against the bill, although some Yisrael Beytenu MKs, such as Minister of Infrastructure Uzi LandaU absented themselves from the vote.

Some commentators had predicted that the party would absent itself from the vote entirely.

Shas leaders absented themselves from the vote, as predicted by many commentators.

Shameful. Just shameful.

The most amazing thing about this is listening to the pious platitudes on the radio about how we must obey the unelected, self-perpetuating 'Supreme Court.' Who the heck elected them?

Labels: Beit El, Binyamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak, Judea and Samaria construction

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:58 PM