Israeli coalition could crumble over settler laws vote
The Hindu
Emergency regulations in place for decades have created a separate legal system for Jewish settlers in the West Bank, applying parts of Israeli law to them.
Israel’s ruling coalition is gearing up for a major test, with a vote expected Monday on the legal status of Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank. The fragile union could collapse if the vote fails to pass.
Emergency regulations in place for decades have created a separate legal system for Jewish settlers in the West Bank, applying parts of Israeli law to them — even though they live in occupied territory and not within sovereign Israeli land.
These regulations expire at the end of the month and if they are not renewed, that legal system, which Israel has cultivated for its settlers in the West Bank since it occupied the territory in 1967, will be thrown into question. It could also change the legal status of the 5,00,000 settlers living there.
Proponents of extending the law say they are merely seeking to maintain a status quo and preserve the government's shelf life. Opponents say extending the regulations would deepen an unfair system that pits Israelis and Palestinians in the same occupied territory under separate legal systems, which rights groups have equated to apartheid.
The coalition, made up of eight ideologically distinct parties, came together last year and pledged to sidestep divisive issues that could threaten its survival. Now, one of those very issues — Palestinian statehood and Israel’s occupation of the West Bank — risks toppling it.
One of the coalition's members, the nationalist New Hope, has threatened to bolt if the coalition cannot pass the measure. Legislators and party leaders were scrambling to rally votes and even parties that support Palestinian independence and criticize Israel's settlement enterprise were expected to vote in favor — just to save the coalition.
“It’s not simple or easy for us either but we understand there is an overarching goal and that overarching goal is the survival of this government,” Yair Golan of the dovish Meretz party, told Israeli Army Radio.