A bill to apply Israeli sovereignty in the Jordan Valley proposed by the opposition was knocked down by the Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionist parties on Wednesday in a vote of 65 against and 14 for.
The bill, proposed by the Yisrael Beytenu party led by MK Avigdor Liberman, would have apply Israeli sovereignty in the Jordan Valley. While most of the coalition voted against the bill, Noam Party MK Avi Maoz voted in favor of the bill and Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son-Har Melech did not show up for the vote.
Before the vote, Liberman stressed that "The Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea region represent the broadest national consensus, from Yigal Alon to Rehavam Zeevi, may their memory be blessed."
"Even if we leave all the historical background and the endless commitments of Benjamin Netanyahu, precisely today when terrorism raises its head in the Jericho area and unfortunately exacts a heavy price from us, precisely now a clear message must be conveyed - our answer to all threats, terrorism and political terrorism is the application of sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea region and the settlements of the Megillot Yam Hamelakh Regional Council."
"The so-called "right-wing" government's evasion of public commitments, not only on the issue of the Jordan Valley, but also on the issue of evacuating Khan al-Ahmar, on the issue of regulating Avitar and on the issue of construction in the E1 areas, turns the sixth Netanyahu government into a government of rags and absolutely not a full right-wing government," added Liberman.
The right promised annexation
The Yisrael Beytenu party stressed that it expects members of the government to fulfill their promise to support annexation of the Jordan Valley.
The chairman of Yisrael Beytenu, Oded Forer, responded to the decision by the coalition to reject the bill, stating "The speed with which you ran away from your commitment is rivaled only by the speed with which [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu ran away from his promise to apply sovereignty to the Valley."
"The Jordan Valley is essential to Israel's security, but you are unable to fulfill even the minimum of applying sovereignty and keeping promises concerning security and the Land of Israel. [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich, [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir - you are afraid!"
Likud MK Dan Illouz, who heads a lobby to implement sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, rejected the bill as an attempt to "troll the system" on Wednesday, saying "The bill promoted by MK Liberman is not intended to promote this important goal and may even harm the moves being advanced in these days. Instead of trying to troll the system, I invite Lieberman to join the moves we are promoting in the lobby so that in the end we can bring about the application of actual sovereignty and not just empty statements."
"As I have already said before, if Israel does not advance in the area of sovereignty during the current government, a full-on right-wing government, it will be an eternal tragedy. We will do this in a responsible manner and as a government, and we will not be dragged into the provocations of professional trolls who have brought zero achievements for the settlements over decades of public action."
The explanatory notes of the bill state that "thousands of citizens of the State of Israel currently live in the Jordan Valley, to whom Israeli law does not fully apply, including to the settlements where they live."
"This is an unacceptable reality, which harms the dignity of the Israeli residents of the 'area,' and discriminates against them compared to the rest of the country's citizens"
Yisrael Beytenu bill
"This creates difficulty and complexity in various areas of life, both on the side of the rights that are taken away from them and on the side of the duties that they are not obligated to. This is an unacceptable reality, which harms the dignity of the Israeli residents of the 'area,' and discriminates against them compared to the rest of the country's citizens," continued the notes.
The bill notes a number of examples of gaps between citizens in Israel proper and citizens over the Green Line, including a case in which a woman needed to receive a general's order to be protected from being fired due to wanting to take maternity leave.
"This lack of economic security and legal inequality are reflected in a significant number of laws of the State of Israel that do not apply in the 'area,' because they have not been translated into the required military regulations."
"That is why the time has come to apply sovereignty to these areas, which include all the settlements of the Jordan Valley and the Megillot Regional Council, including the settlements: Kochav HaShahar, Rimonim, Ma'ale Mikhmash, Mitzpe Hagit, Neve Erez, Nofei Prat, Anatot, Kfar Adumim, Mitzpe Yericho and Migdalim, including the commercial and industrial areas, the archaeological sites and the roads in areas C."
The bill applies sovereignty to Israeli citizens
The bill would have only apply Israeli sovereignty to Israeli citizens in the area who have citizenship and the right to vote and would not include Palestinians. The bill would also only apply sovereignty to recognized Jewish settlements.
The bill noted that a series of similar bills have been proposed in the past by various members of the current coalition.
After the vote on Wednesday, MKs from the Otzma Yehudit party, including Son Har-Melech, Almog Cohen, Zvika Fogel and Yitzhak Kreuzer, announced that they would present a bill later in the day to apply Israeli sovereignty to Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley.
The MKs referred to the bill that they voted against earlier in the day, saying "from the beginning we did not intend to cooperate with the trolling campaign of the opposition, which suddenly remembered that Judea and Samaria are important to it - and this after a year and a half in which their government pursued the settlement to the hilt."
Shortly afterwards, Yisrael Beytenu announced that it would be resubmitting its bill to apply sovereignty to the Jordan Valley as well.
In January, a similar bill was promoted by members of the coalition, including Likud MKs Danny Dannon and Yuli Edelstein, to apply Israeli sovereignty in the Jordan Valley and Megillot Yam Hamelach regional councils, Ma'ale Efraim, and towns near the Jordan Valley, including Kohav Hashahar, Rimonim, Ma'ale Mikmash, Mizpe Hagit, Neve Erez, Nofei Prat, Anatot, Kfar Adumim, Mizpe Yeriho and Migdalim. The bill has not progressed since.