Likud MK introduces bill to extend Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria

The bill, one of three introduced by MK Yoav Kisch, is aimed at establishing the status of Israeli communities as “an integral part of the State of Israel.”

By World Israel News Staff

A leading Likud parliamentarian has taken charge in advancing the cause of extending Israeli sovereignty to Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria. Member of Knesset Yoav Kisch has swiftly put forward legislation in this regard, in the immediate aftermath of the new Knesset’s inauguration on Tuesday.

Just before the April 9 parliamentary election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to extend Israeli law to these areas if re-elected, though his announcement was widely dismissed as no more than a way to win votes.

MK Kisch says that he is determined to disprove the skeptics.

“It is hereby proposed that Israel shall impose its laws and sovereignty over the area of [Jewish] communities in Judea and Samaria, and this in order to establish their status as an integral part of the State of Israel,” the legislation reads.

It’ss one of three bills submitted by MK Kisch, a prominent Likud politician who is a former chairman of the Knesset House Committee, which handles procedural parliamentary matters.

He says that nine other Likud MKs have also signed the legislation.

A second bill would strengthen the Knesset’s ability to counter Israel’s Supreme Court. It calls for significantly restricting the ability of the Supreme Court and other courts to rescind laws passed by the Israeli parliament.

The bill would require that only the Supreme Court, presiding with a full bench of all its justices would have the authority to discuss the validity of already passed legislation and whether it contradicts Israel’s Basic Laws, which are considered to have semi-constitutional status.

Israel has never formulated a full constitution due to deeply contentious issues among different segments of the diverse Israeli population.

Under the terms of the new legislation, the justices would have to agree unanimously that a law contradicts one of the Basic Laws in order to annul it.

With an absolute majority of 61 MKs, the Knesset could also assert that a new law is “immune” to Supreme Court interference until after two years of the next Knesset’s term.

The third bill currently introduced by MK Kisch would improve preferred benefits granted to discharged IDF soldiers, with increased state funding toward tuition fees and professional training.