Knesset Bill Seeks to Create Obstacle to Judea and Samaria Withdrawal

Photo Credit: Gershon Elinson/Flash90

Israeli flags in honor of Independence Day in the Judea city of Efrat, April 5, 2020.

Twenty-five lawmakers are spearheading a bill that would extend Basic Law: Referendum to apply to all territories held by Israel, including Judea, Samaria and the country’s territorial waters.

The Knesset Land of Israel Caucus, whose mission is to strengthen Israeli control of Judea and Samaria, is seeking to amend the semi-constitutional law to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Basic Law: Referendum, which the Knesset adopted in a 68-0 vote in 2014, states that a government decision to withdraw from territory under Israeli jurisdiction needs to be approved by a majority in a referendum unless an 80-vote supermajority has been achieved in the 120-member legislature. It applies to territories of the State of Israel within the Green Line as well as to eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

The current legislation, dubbed the “Israel Security Bill,” clarifies that “all areas of the historic Land of Israel and territorial waters” fall under the referendum law, the leaders of the Land of Israel Caucus explained.

“There is broad consensus in Israeli society and the Knesset that a Palestinian state must not be established,” said MKs Yuli Edelstein (Likud), Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism) and Limor Son Har-Melech (Otzma Yehudit). “Following our initiative, the Knesset voted on a declaration against a Palestinian state by a large majority.”

“The bill we are promoting is the practical expression of the Knesset’s decision. This is a clear statement that after Oct. 7, [2023], the State of Israel will not permit terrorist organizations to establish themselves on its borders and endanger the security of its citizens,” the legislators said.

The bill, which is expected to be submitted soon, also seeks to rectify the loophole that allowed former Prime Minister Yair Lapid to sign the 2022 agreement with Lebanon that ceded territorial waters to Lebanon without seeking approval from the Knesset or calling a referendum.

Lapid said that he acted legally, arguing that the Basic Law did not apply to the waters, economic or territorial, under Israel’s control. The Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, sided with the government, rejecting several petitions against the maritime agreement.

On July 17, the Knesset plenum voted in favor of a resolution rejecting the establishment of a “Palestinian” state. The resolution, put forward by Ze’ev Elkin of the New Hope Party with support from the Yisrael Beiteinu Party and the Land of Israel Caucus, passed by 68 to 9.

“The Israeli Knesset opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state on any piece of land west of the Jordan River,” the text reads. “A Palestinian state in the heart of Israel will pose an existential threat to the State of Israel and its citizens, will further extend the Israel-Palestinian Arab conflict and be a source of destabilization for the entire region.”

In February, the Knesset plenum voted 99-11 to back the Cabinet’s decision to reject any unilateral recognition of “Palestinian” statehood.

All coalition members and most lawmakers of the Zionist opposition parties voted to support the Cabinet statement against “international diktats regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians.”