Annexation Bill Delayed After Syria Incident

The so-called Sovereignty Bill, otherwise known as annexation, which aims to extend Israeli sovereignty over all Jewish population blocs in Yehudah and Shomron, was put on hold in the wake of the clash over Shabbos with Syria.

Heads of coalition parties on Sunday said that in light of the seriousness of the security events, the bill will likely be delayed until next week’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation meeting, The Times of Israel reported.

Sunday’s announcement follows a decision last Thursday by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to delay advancing the bill in order to allow time to coordinate the matter with the White House, according to a spokesman for a senior member of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation.

Zionist Camp leader Avi Gabbay applauded the decision on Sunday, saying that a bill to annex the communities would cause a “diplomatic terror attack” for Israel.

“It is good that the absurd bill for the annexation of Yehudah and Shomron was removed from the government agenda,” Gabbay said in a statement.