Israel delays bill to scrap Oslo Accords amid coalition pressure

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday delayed a ministerial debate on proposed legislation to scrap the Oslo Accords, bowing to pressure from far-right coalition partners who have demanded the formal dismantling of the framework governing Palestinian self-rule. The bill, submitted by Knesset member Limor Son Har-Melech of the ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party, had been slated for review by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation earlier in the day when Netanyahu intervened during a Zoom cabinet session to request a delay, according to the Israel Hayom daily.

National Security Council chief Gil Reich told participants that the proposal required additional time for “careful review” by relevant security teams, the newspaper reported. Justice Minister Yariv Levin backed the postponement but insisted 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 the daily.

Coalition pushes for dismantling

“The discussion is postponed until the prime minister approves it,” Levin said, adding that “just as we returned to Sanur, we will return to other places” — a reference to advancing settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also voiced support for the legislation, saying that most coalition members favor canceling the accords entirely.

Son Har-Melech wrote Saturday on the social media platform X that the bill aims 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 currently under varying degrees of Palestinian administrative control. The Oslo Accords, signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in Washington in 1993, established a framework for limited Palestinian self-rule, while the 1995 Oslo II agreement divided the West Bank into three zones — with Area C, comprising roughly 60 percent of the territory, remaining under full Israeli military and civilian control.