ERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won parliament’s support yesterday for a measure to privatise state land, and another law seen as potentially boosting the ranks of his right-wing ruling coalition.
Netanyahu overcame right and left-wing opponents to win the vote to enable the sale of large swaths of public land by 2014 which would permit Israelis to buy rather than lease land on which their homes are built.
After having threatened to fire any cabinet ministers who objected to the bill, Netanyahu struck a compromise with other opponents who had argued Israel should keep its national turf in the public realm, by pledging to limit how much land was sold.
Parliament interrupted a summer recess to convene in special session to hold the vote, and also passed a separate measure to lower the quota of lawmakers required to form a recognised parliamentary faction.
Just seven members of the Knesset, rather than the previous quota of 10, will be needed to form a faction, making it easier for breakaway groups to split from major parties.
The move could further divide Israel’s already fractious political system, but may also give Netanyahu greater manoeuvrability to negotiate a deal for a settlement freeze sought by Washington to resume peace talks with Palestinians. Netanyahu now has a solid majority of 74 in the 120-member parliament, but more than a couple of dozen lawmakers fall in the pro-settler category and would likely oppose any deal to halt Jewish settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.
