A day before the Knesset vote on regularizing the status of “new” settlements in Judea and Samaria, a senior Likud figure provoked astonishment by making statements indicating that she may not support the passage of the law.
On Tuesday morning, Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel was interviewed on Reshet Bet, and when she was asked if she intended to vote in favor of regularization, she responded that, “In principle, I signed on the document requesting the regularization of status of newer settlements – that was the right thing to do. We plan to examine the issue within the coalition, and discuss the options. I hope very much that we will succeed in advancing the legislation.”
Surprised at Gamliel’s apparent evasion, interviewer Kalman Libeskind asked her: “If you support the legislation, why won’t you vote in favor of it?” and Gamliel replied, “I don’t know what the procedure is,” prompting Libeskind to counter: “The procedure is that a proposal is brought forward for a vote, and whoever is in favor votes in favor; and whoever is against, votes against.”
Nonetheless, despite the interviewer’s attempts, Gamliel refused to commit herself to voting in favor of the legislation. All she would say is that “such matters have to be dealt with by seeking cooperation and if we proceed correctly, I hope that the issue can be advanced, perhaps even as early as tomorrow.”
Gamliel’s words were greeted with outrage within members of the settlement enterprise and their supporters. The Forum for Settlements responded with a statement saying: “We are disappointed to hear Minister Gila Gamliel turn our lives and the lives of our children into a matter of coalition-versus-opposition. Electricity, water, and security are not political issues – rather, it is the duty of the State to provide them to all its citizens. We are still permitting ourselves to hope that the government will make a clear decision on the matter, and that the new legislation will pass. Gila – it’s not to late to mend your ways. You can still announce your support of this bill.”
Representatives of the settlement of Asael stated: “The matter of regularizing the status of communities is not one of opposition-versus-coalition. Regularization must cease to be a political issue – politicians should stop playing games with our lives.”
Dozens of representatives from many settlements sent angry messages to Gamliel in the wake of her interview. The head of the settlement of Harasha, Michael Has-Green, a member of the Likud party, wrote: “I was greatly perturbed to hear of your reservations regarding the regularization law. As a member of the Likud, who has voted for your party for many years, I feel betrayed. I now intend to see that all my relatives and those Likud members with whom I have some influence vote only for those who support regularization in the party’s primaries.”
Shira Gilad, another resident of a young settlement, wrote of her “confusion as to why this has suddenly become a political issue within the Likud party. We are talking about families who have been living for the past twenty years without proper infrastructure in place. Instead of taking a historic step to improve the lives of thousands, you have descended into petty politics – what a shame, what an embarrassment.”