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Oslo targeted
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed a ministerial debate on proposed legislation to scrap the Oslo Accords, yielding to pressure from far-right coalition partners who want to dismantle the framework underpinning Palestinian self-rule in the occupied West Bank.
“Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday delayed a ministerial debate”
The bill was submitted by Knesset member Limor Son Har-Melech of the ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party, and National Security Council chief Gil Reich told participants that the proposal required additional time for “careful review” by relevant security teams.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin backed the postponement while insisting he did not oppose the bill itself, telling ministers that “in the end, there is a prime minister who is exposed to matters I am not exposed to,” according to Israel Hayom.
The proposed legislation is described as aiming to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and expand Israeli settlement activity into Areas A and B of the occupied West Bank, which are under varying degrees of Palestinian administrative control.
The Oslo Accords, signed in Washington in 1993 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, established a framework for limited Palestinian self-rule, while the 1995 Oslo II agreement divided the West Bank into three zones, including Area C comprising roughly 60 percent of the territory under full Israeli military and civilian control.
Jordan’s red lines
In Jordan, the Israeli security cabinet’s vote last week in favor of extending Israeli control over areas under Palestinian administration was framed as an existential threat, with King Abdallah saying the decision crossed his “lignes rouges” that include “pas de déplacement de Palestiniens” and “pas de patrie alternative.”
The article says Jordan condemned the measures as “illégales” and “visant à consolider les colonies et à imposer la souveraineté israélienne sur la Cisjordanie,” and it adds that the Palestinian Authority, Arab and Muslim countries, the European Union and the United Nations joined the condemnation.
It also quotes Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen telling Israeli radio that the measures amount to a “souveraineté de facto,” adding that they “établissaient en fait sur le terrain qu'il n'y aurait pas d'État palestinien”.
The same source reports that Defense Minister Israël Katz said “Nous continuerons à tuer l'idée d'un État palestinien,” in a communiqué commun with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
The piece links the decision’s impact to the fear that the king’s red lines on the Palestinian question have been crossed, and it describes the Oslo Accords as being effectively annulled by the Israeli decision.
What’s at stake
The bill to cancel the Oslo Accords is presented as a move that would fully annul agreements signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization or the Palestinian Authority and repeal legislation enacted to implement them.
“The Oslo Accords did not bring peace, but terrorism”
Israel National News says the Ministerial Committee for Legislation is expected to discuss the proposal on Sunday, and it reports that the bill would aim to restore the legal and security situation to what it was prior to the 1993 White House signing ceremony.
In the lead-up to the discussion, Limor Son Har-Melech said, “After thirty years of terror attacks, withdrawals, and bloodshed, everyone understands that the time has come to stop being afraid and tell the truth,” and she added that “The Oslo Accords did not bring peace, but terrorism.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir backed the proposal, saying, “The Oslo Accords were a national disaster that brought terrorism, bloodshed, and bereavement upon the State of Israel.”
Al Jazeera Net frames the legislative path as threatening to reshape the security and legal reality in the West Bank and Jerusalem and to endanger the Palestinian institutional and demographic presence, while also describing the bill as deeming the agreements non-binding on the State of Israel and repealing laws aimed at implementing Oslo.
