Prime Minister Netanyahu is emphatic about wanting to delay Sunday’s vote at the Ministerial Committee on Legislation, which is slated to vote on Sunday to apply Israeli law to the city of Ma’ale Adumim, some four miles east of the boundary line of municipal Jerusalem, Army Radio reported Sunday morning.
The vote, in a ministerial committee headed by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Habayit Hayehudi), was scheduled to fall on the first week following President Trump’s inauguration, possibly, among other things, to measure the new administration’s view on the annexation of Area C of Judea and Samaria, where the Jewish settlements are located.
Meanwhile, Army Radio cited a source inside the Trump White House who reportedly stated that the new Administration has no inclination to intervene in Israeli policy, or to thwart the sovereignty legislation.
Minister Shaked, who will decide on Sunday whether to heed the PM’s demands, told Army Radio she had not received any messages from the Trump White House, in support of Sunday’s vote or otherwise. But she emphasized that “the rules of the game have changed and we must not continue to play according to the old rules.” She explained that the new message from the US is, “Come, let us know what you want.”
According to Army Radio, citing sources close to the PM, Netanyahu would like to delay any controversial laws of this kind until after his meeting with President Trump, which is why he has been leaning on Shaked and on Habayit Hayehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett to postpone today’s vote.
The Habayit Hayehudi leadership is being pushed by their own rank and file, however, including Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan, who was invited to attend the Trump celebrations, and relayed “completely different messages” from his hosts. Dagan accused Netanyahu of passing Trump on the left regarding the planned annexation of Ma’aleh Adumim, and warned the PM that should he renege on his commitment to bring the Jewish city into Israel’s fold, he, Dagan, would assemble a special Likud Center session to vote on the new intiative.
MK Bezalel Smotrich (Habayit Hayehudi), who authored the annexation bill together with MK Yoav Kisch (Likud), told Army Radio that he objects to delaying Sunday’s vote and supported further unilateral moves. “We should carry out meaningful steps to clarify where we’re headed, and, in my opinion, the Trump Administration would approve of it silently in retrospect.”
Minister Shaked also told Army Radio that “Ma’ale Adumim is dying because of the construction freeze policy, and we must revive it. The Palestinians are also making unilateral moved. There’s no reason we should not proceed with moves we believe will benefit the State of Israel.”
