Israel’s Netanyahu delays bill seeking to bury Oslo Accords: Report

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has postponed the discussion of a controversial bill seeking to scrap the Oslo Accords, the Israel Hayom daily reported Sunday amid growing pressure from some ministers to formally abandon the framework underpinning Palestinian self-rule.

The proposed legislation, submitted by Knesset member Limor Son Har-Melech from the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, had been scheduled for debate before the Ministerial Committee for Legislation earlier Sunday before Netanyahu requested a delay, the newspaper said.

According to Israel Hayom, ministers had already begun discussing the bill during a Zoom meeting when Netanyahu intervened and asked for the matter to be postponed to a later date.

The head of Israel’s National Security Council, Gil Reich, reportedly told ministers that more time was needed for a “careful review” by the relevant team.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin backed postponing the discussion but stressed that this did not amount to opposition to the bill itself.

“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 signaled support for advancing the legislation in the future, saying: “Just as we returned to Sanur, we will return to other places.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also expressed support for the proposal, claiming that most coalition members backed canceling the Oslo Accords.

On Saturday, Son Har-Melech wrote on the US social media platform X that the bill was aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state and expanding settlement activity in Areas A and B of the occupied West Bank.

The Oslo Accords, signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in Washington, DC in 1993, were intended to serve as a framework for Palestinian self-rule and a future Palestinian state.

Under the Oslo II agreement signed in 1995, the occupied West Bank was divided into Areas A, B and C, with Area C remaining under full Israeli control and comprising around 60% of the territory.

*Writing by Tarek Chouiref