Ayelet Shaked and Binyamin Netanyahu
Ayelet Shaked and Binyamin NetanyahuYonatan Sindel/Flash90

A planned deliberation on a proposed piece of legislation which would pave the way for the application of Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria was delayed Sunday, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) said Sunday afternoon.

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation, a group of government ministers which meets every Sunday to determine which bills will gain coalition backing, had been scheduled to rule on the “Sovereignty Law”.

The bill, proposed by Likud MK and chairman of the Land of Israel Lobby Yoav Kish, would establish a framework for the application of Israeli sovereignty over Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria.

According to Minister Shaked, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered the bill taken off of the Sunday agenda, and called for all deliberations on the matter to be delayed until the Knesset’s summer session, which is slated to begin on April 29th.

Deliberations on a second proposal, which would apply Israeli sovereignty to the city of Maaleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem, were also delayed.

Netanyahu has repeatedly pushed off planned discussions within the government on all legislation aimed at applying Israeli sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria.

The Prime Minister claimed earlier this month that he was discussing the matter with senior Trump administration officials, a claim the White House later denied.

Netanyahu’s governing coalition, with 66 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, must pass a new spending plan by the end of the current session – or face the possibility of early elections.

Members of the United Torah Judaism party have indicated they will refrain from backing any budget plan until the coalition passes new legislation preserving the army deferments granted to full-time yeshiva students.