Knesset rejects Ulpana bill 69-22

By a vote of 69-22, the Knesset has rejected the bill proposed for retroactively legalizing a number of West Bank outposts, including the Ulpana outpost.Notable from the vote was the absence of Science and Technology Minister Daniel Herschkowitz and Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein from the vote.Both ministers had previously publicly declared that they would vote for the bill even though they would be fired from their cabinet positions. Despite their public declarations, ultimately they absented themselves from the vote.Also noteworthy was that most of Yisrael Beytenu voted against the bill, although some Yisrael Beytenu MKs, such as Minister of Infrastructure Uzi Landaw absented themselves from the vote. Some commentators had predicted that the party would absent itself from the vote entirely. Shas leaders absented themselves from the vote, as predicted by many commentators.Lahav Harkov contributed to this report.