In the coalition crisis that broke out last month following the resignation of Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, the leader of HaBayit HaYehudi, demanded leadership of the Defense Ministry and threatened that if he didn't get it, he’d leave and let the government collapse. But within three days, Bennett retracted the ultimatum. There were several reasons for the shift. One of the main reasons was pressure from the settler movement, the party’s main voter base, to avoid dissolving the government and pass a series of laws and resolutions before the elections now set for 2019. 

Al-Monitor has learned that in secret meetings between Bennett and several settler leaders, among them Rabbi Hayim Druckman, he was asked to wait on breaking up the coalition and to advance bills and resolutions regarding the settlements before this legislative term is over. One of the participants in the meeting relayed to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that Bennett was told, “This is the most practical right-wing government we have seen and we have to make use of it until the end. After the election, if [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu remains in power, he may form a unity government, and if he loses because of the police investigations, who knows who will form the next government.” Of the participants' several goals for Bennett, the main one was legislation that would legalize more than 60 West Bank outposts, currently considered illegal. These outposts were established without government consent, without building permits and often on private Palestinian land. Last week, the bill passed the Ministerial Committee for Legislation and a preliminary reading in the Knesset, but it’s still not clear if Netanyahu will allow its final passage in the next few weeks — of if it would even be possible considering the early elections.

According to the bill, demolition in the outposts would be frozen for two years without a direct order from the prime minister and defense minister and the authorization of the cabinet. The bill also requires that the state provide municipal services to the outposts, including water and electricity, maintenance services and waste disposal, over the next two years. As some of these outposts are built on private Palestinian land and without authorization, courts have issued orders to demolish some of them. The bill is meant to expedite the work of a government committee tasked with finding a way to legalize the outposts and prevent legal action against them in the meantime. 

In a debate at the Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Dec. 16, Deputy Attorney General Ran Nizri expressed sharp opposition to the bill and said that it is not legal and would not withstand a test in the High Court. According to Nizri, “The bill could lead to comprehensive damage to property rights and would raise many legal difficulties regarding equality before the law and the rule of law.” In addition, Nizri told the ministers, it “could even have international ramifications and expose Israel to significant risk vis-à-vis international law.”