Israel Matzav

Likud ministers: Jordan Valley more important than Jerusalem

The ability of this country's legislative body to ignore the voters' wishes - an outgrowth of the system of voting for a party rather than a person - never ceases to amaze me.

The Ministerial Committee on Legislation rejected a bill proposed by Regev (Likud) that would require 61 MK's to vote in favor before negotiations on Jerusalem could begin. Not a single Likud minister voted in favor. Only two Jewish Home ministers (Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel and Pensioners' Affairs Minister Uri Orbach) voted in favor. No other ministers voted in favor.

Last month, the committee voted in favor of a similar bill requiring a Knesset majority to authorize negotiations with respect to the Jordan Valley.

"It's unfortunate that Likud ministers forget that bills like this are what brought us to the Knesset," Regev wrote on Facebook. "This important bill deals with two significant, core issues, and should have passed. Unfortunately, it was rejected and that is a great shame."

...

According to the bill, any talks on those matters that take place without the Knesset’s authorization will not obligate any government body.

Regev’s measure is one in a series of recent legislation from the Right and Left that seek to tie the Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s hands when it comes to diplomatic moves.

MK Ya’acov Litzman (United Torah Judaism) drafted an initiative similar to Regev’s, meant to prevent the government from negotiating on Jerusalem without two-thirds of the Knesset’s approval.

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation authorized it, but Livni and Yesh Atid ministers appealed the vote. Litzman anyway brought the bill to the plenum in December, and it was voted down, with Likud Beytenu and Bayit Yehudi absenting themselves.

 They call this democracy.

Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, Miri Regev

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:14 PM