The Knesset on Wednesday voted 45-8 against a bill to annex Betar Illit, a large ultra-Orthodox city located in the West Bank.
The bill was submitted by MK Oded Forer (Yisrael Beytenu). The proposed legislation sought to regulate the city’s status under Israeli law and was presented as part of a broader effort to advance sovereignty measures in the area.
The proposal was defeated in part due to opposition from right-wing parties within the prime minister’s coalition despite the fact that many coalition members support annexation and the application of Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank.
The vote took place while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in the United States. He was expected to meet again with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday at a New Year’s Eve reception at Mar-a-Lago.
The bill was merely a provocation intended to undermine Netanyahu’s visit, Israeli officials told The Jerusalem Post.
Knesset voted against similar annexation bill in October
This is not the first time that the opposition has attempted this kind of “political stunt” to undermine Netanyahu.
In October this year, the Knesset voted on a similar West Bank annexation bill, which Netanyahu’s office perceived as a “deliberate political provocation by the opposition” intended to incite conflict during a visit by US Vice President JD Vance.
The bill was brought forward after Vance gave a statement that Trump would oppose Israeli annexation of the West Bank.
When asked by reporters about the move, Vance responded, “If it was a political stunt, it is a very stupid one, and I personally take some insult to it.”
Jerusalem Post Staff and Reuters contributed to this report.