Netanyahu Pushes Back Debate on Bill Seeking to Scrap Oslo Accords

(MENAFN) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has intervened to delay debate on a contentious legislative proposal that would formally dismantle the Oslo Accords — the foundational framework for Palestinian self-governance — amid mounting pressure from hard-line coalition partners, Israel media reported Sunday.

The bill, introduced by Knesset member Limor Son Har-Melech of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, had been penciled in for deliberation before the Ministerial Committee for Legislation earlier Sunday, before Netanyahu stepped in to request a postponement, the publication said.

Ministers had already convened via Zoom and begun preliminary discussions on the legislation when Netanyahu interrupted the session and called for the matter to be pushed to a later date, Israel Hayom reported. The head of Israel's National Security Council, Gil Reich, reportedly informed ministers that a "careful review" by the relevant team required additional time.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin endorsed the delay while drawing a firm distinction between procedural patience and substantive opposition to the bill.

"In the end, there is a prime minister who is exposed to matters I am not exposed to," Levin said, according to the newspaper. "The discussion is postponed until the prime minister approves it."

Levin also left little ambiguity about his longer-term intentions, signaling readiness to advance the legislation when conditions allow: "Just as we returned to Sanur, we will return to other places."

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir similarly voiced backing for the proposal, asserting that a majority of coalition members supported abolishing the Oslo Accords.

Son Har-Melech had outlined the bill's objectives on social media platform X on Saturday, stating the legislation was designed to block the creation of a Palestinian state and expand Israeli settlement activity across Areas A and B of the occupied West Bank.

The Oslo Accords, negotiated between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization and signed in Washington, DC in 1993, were conceived as a roadmap toward Palestinian self-rule and eventual statehood. A subsequent agreement — Oslo II, concluded in 1995 — partitioned the occupied West Bank into Areas A, B, and C, with Area C remaining under full Israeli administrative and security control, accounting for roughly 60% of the territory.

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