WhatsappDespite Prime Minister Netanyahu’s efforts to prevent the vote to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, the vote was held anyway and passed in its first reading.
The Knesset plenum passed a preliminary reading of a bill to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, proposed by MK Avi Maoz, with 25 MKs voting in favor and 24 against. The bill now advances to the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee for further discussion.
A clear majority supported sovereignty, with votes from religious Zionist parties, Otzma Yehudit, Noam, and Yisrael Beiteinu. In Torah Judaism, four MKs voted in favor, while three abstained. Likud largely abstained, except for MK Yuli Edelstein, who supported the bill. Blue and White also abstained, while Yesh Atid, Labor, and Arab parties opposed it.
MK Avi Maoz, the bill’s sponsor, stated: “The Holy One, blessed be He, granted the Land of Israel to the people of Israel. Settlement in the Land of Israel represents redemption and national revival, making it flourish after two thousand years of exile. Applying sovereignty to Judea and Samaria corrects a long-overdue injustice. Since the government has delayed, it is our duty as Knesset members to act.”
With Arab countries and even members of the Abraham Accords like the UAE threatening diplomatic consequences if Israel applies sovereignty over its historical and biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria, the bill’s passage shakes the nascent “peace” plan Trump is trying to hold together.
