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A controversial bill, which would prevent the demolition of the Amona outpost and retrospectively legalise homes in other settlements, passed its preliminary hearing in the Knesset 58-51.

The “legalisation bill” has received extensive international and domestic criticism for its proposals to retroactively legalise homes built on private Palestinian land with the help of the state by providing financial compensation to the land owners.  The bill has been publicly opposed by Prime Minister Netanyahu and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who said that he could not defend the appropriation of private land under Israeli or international law.

It was approved by the Knesset Ministerial Committee for Legislation last Sunday.

The bill has also caused strains in the coalition, with MK Benny Begin of Likud dubbing it a “plague, a wound and a bruise”. Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu party decided at the last minute to bring his ten members of the coalition to support the bill in its preliminary reading, but Kahlon warned that his support was dependent on the Bill not conflicting with the Supreme Court.

Jewish Home MK Shuli Moalem-Rafaeli had warned that should the coalition fail to support the bill, her party would no longer see itself as being bound by coalition discipline. The Jewish Home party has claimed credit for the bill in an attempt to try to capitalise on Netanyahu’s right wing constituency.

Following the Knesset vote, Yediot Ahronot analysed potential future scenarios for the bill, stressing that passing a further two Knesset readings in its current form is unlikely. The paper suggested that the bill may be amended to exclude Amona, paving the way for its demolition but preventing the demolition of other settlements. The paper also reports that there is a reasonable chance that the Prime Minister will bury the bill and Amona will be dismantled.

Ben Caspit of Ma’ariv revealed a month ago that Justice Minster Ayelet Shaked – also of the Jewish Home party – could be considering alternative arrangements to avoid a stand-off between settlement leaders and the government. She reportedly is considering the “Cyprus model” in which an international tribunal would hear and decide individual questions of land ownership, rather than via petitions to the High Court.