Israeli cabinet postpones vote on annexation of West Bank settlement

The Israeli cabinet postponed a vote on Tuesday regarding the annexation of a major illegal colony-settlement in the occupied West Bank. The vote on the future of Ma’ale Adumin is now likely to be held in three months’ time at the request of the Likud Party, which wants to avoid any friction with the Trump administration in the US.

According to the Times of Israel, Likud asked its coalition partner Jewish Home to delay the annexation immediately after a meeting between the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump’s envoy on Israeli-Palestinian peace, Jason Greenblatt, held in Jerusalem.

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While the Chairman of the Jewish Home party, Bezalel Smotrich MK, rejected the request from Likud, the party’s leader, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, agreed to postpone the vote, but just for one week.

“There is no justification for hiding from our friend across the sea the widespread public and political support for applying Israeli sovereignty to Ma’ale Adumim as a first step,” said Smotrich. “The law remains on the agenda.”

It is worth mentioning that this bill was postponed prior to Netanyahu’s visit to the White House in February, after fears that it would affect his meeting with Trump.