The proposal, approved by 25 votes in favor and 24 against, seeks to establish settlements in the region
Nuevo
Agregar La Derecha Diario en
Compartir:
The Knesset approved advancing the bill "Application of Israeli Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, 2025", promoted by Member of Knesset Avi Maoz (Noam).
The proposal, approved by a narrow margin of 25 votes in favor and 24 against, seeks to establish that the laws, judicial system, administration, and sovereignty of the State of Israel apply in all Israeli settlements in the region.
The text will now be referred to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for discussion, before being submitted to a second and third vote in the plenary session.
During his speech, Maoz stated that the measure seeks "to correct a long-postponed historical error". According to his explanation, "if the government has hesitated, it is our duty as members of the Knesset to act."
The legislator revealed that he rejected a request from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to postpone the debate and decided to proceed with the vote.
Deputy Avi Maoz
The debate coincided with the visit to Israel of U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who met with Netanyahu in Jerusalem during the morning.
In that context, Minister of Education Yoav Kisch stated before the plenary that "this government is the best the settlement movement has ever had" and assured that "the time for sovereignty legislation will also come; we will lead it together with our American partners."
Maoz's proposal was accompanied by another initiative presented by Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu), aimed at applying sovereignty specifically in Ma’ale Adumim, approved with a wider vote of 32 to 9.
Last July, the Knesset had already approved a declarative resolution in support of Israeli sovereignty over Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley, although without legislative consequences.
Historical and legal context
Judea and Samaria—the biblical name for the region internationally known as the West Bank—were captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, when they were under Jordanian control.
Since then, their legal status has been considered one of temporary military administration, although Israel keeps that the territory was not under recognized legitimate sovereignty before the conflict and therefore can't be classified as "occupied" under international law.
The Oslo Accords of the 1990s divided the area into three zones:
Area A, under full control of the Palestinian Authority.
Area B, with Palestinian civil control and Israeli security.
Area C, under full Israeli authority, where approximately 500,000 Israelis live in communities that the State considers legal under its own legislation.
The international community, meanwhile, usually considers the settlements to be contrary to Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, an interpretation that Israel rejects by arguing that no citizen was deported or transferred to those territories and that it is a disputed area rather than an occupation.
International repercussions
Some Arab and European countries expressed criticism regarding the possibility of a change in the region's legal status. In particular, the United Arab Emirates warned that an annexation could "undermine the spirit of the Abraham Accords", which normalized diplomatic relations with Israel.
However, from Jerusalem it is emphasized that the debate on sovereignty doesn't seek to burn bridges, but rather to consolidate a historical and legal reality that reflects the millennial bond of the Jewish people with their ancestral land.
If finally approved, the bill would mark an unprecedented step in affirming Israeli rights over Judea and Samaria, reaffirming the conviction that Israel's security, development, and national identity are closely linked to that essential region of its history and present.
