The Knesset on Monday night approved the first reading of the bill which extends the Judea and Samaria regulations by five years.
58 Knesset members voted in favor of the bill, and 13 opposed it. The proposal will now be forwarded to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, which will prepare it for its second and third readings.
Prior to the vote, MK Benny Gantz announced that his National Unity Party would vote in favor of the bill.
“The Knesset members of the National Unity Party will vote in favor of the Judea and Samaria regulations - because this is an important defense-related law. Unlike the Likud and Netanyahu – no matter which position we are in and wherever we are, we will work for the country and its security," said Gantz.
The Labor Party voted against the regulations after the party claimed that "unlike the previous governments, in the current government, the Civil Administration is enslaved to Smotrich and the Judea and Samaria regulations are actually regulations of annexation."
The previous government sought to extend the Judea and Samaria regulations but was unable to do so because of a lack of a majority. The opposition at the time, including the Likud, refused to support the regulations.
The bill regulates the entire legal reality in Judea and Samaria, meaning that residents of the area will be able to receive legal and enforcement services within the boundaries of the Green Line.