JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to postpone a vote on a controversial bill that critics say would amount to the de facto annexation of Israeli settlements surrounding Jerusalem, an official said Saturday. The bill had been expected to be voted on by a ministerial committee on Sunday, in a move that would fast-track its progress through parliament. But the Israeli official said on condition of anonymity that the bill needs “diplomatic preparation,” declining to elaborate further. “The law also needs diplomatic preparation and thus will be postponed for the moment,” the official said. The bill would absorb major Israeli settlements currently in the occupied West Bank into Jerusalem by enlarging the city limits.

Source: Manila Times October 28, 2017 20:48 UTC