TEL AVIV: US pressure delayed an Israeli ministerial vote on Sunday on a proposed bill that Washington fears entails annexation of Jewish settlements near Jerusalem, an Israeli lawmaker said.
The “Greater Jerusalem” legislation would put some settlements in the occupied West Bank, built on land Palestinians seek for a future state and viewed as illegal by most countries, under the jurisdiction of Jerusalem’s municipality.
The bill, proposed by a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party, was to have been submitted for approval to a ministerial committee, a first step before a series of ratification votes in parliament.
But Likud lawmaker David Bitan, chairman of Netanyahu’s coalition in parliament, said a vote by the cabinet committee would be delayed because US told Israel the bill’s passage could impede US efforts to revive peace talks that collapsed in 2014.
“There is US pressure that claims this is about annexation and that this could interfere with the peace process,” Bitan said.
“The prime minister doesn’t think this is about annexation. I don’t
think so either. We have to take the time to clarify matters to the Americans,” he said. — Reuters
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