\n By Euronews\n<\/p>\n
\n Published on 31\/12\/2025 – 21:58 GMT+1
\n \u2022Updated
\n 22:00\n <\/p>\n
Israeli parliament the Knesset voted against a bill to annex Beitar Illit, a large settlement in the West Bank. The proposal was defeated by a margin of 45 to eight in a vote on the motion on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The proposed bill sought to regulate the city\u2019s status under Israeli law. It was presented by Yisrael Beiteinu party chairman, lawmaker Oded Forer, as part of a broader effort to advance sovereignty measures in the area. <\/p>\n
Following the vote, he posted on X that the government \u201cchose to vote against a basic step of Israeli sovereignty,\u201d blaming ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, and members of their faction for \u201copposing\u201d the bill and claiming they were absent from the vote. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhoever speaks about sovereignty on every platform voted today against sovereignty in practice. The government has once again proven that its ideology ends when it clashes with petty politics,\u201d Forer said.<\/p>\n
Israeli officials told Euronews that the proposal was blocked by the governing coalition itself, despite the coalition’s generally supportive stance on settlement expansion and right-leaning policies.<\/p>\n
The vote took place in the Knesset while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in the US, as he was expected to meet again with US President Donald Trump at a New Year\u2019s reception at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property.<\/p>\n
In October, during the visit of US Vice President JD Vance, the Knesset voted on a similar West Bank annexation bill, which Netanyahu’s office perceived as a “deliberate political provocation by the opposition” intended to incite conflict during a high-level visit from Washington. <\/p>\n