Israeli MPs were on Wednesday to vote on two bills to retroactively legalise settler units built on private Palestinian land, in a move which has sharply divided Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition.
The move is an attempt to circumvent a Supreme Court ruling ordering the removal of five buildings from a settlement outpost known as the Ulpana neighbourhood by 1 July.
The planned demolition, which would affect 142 people, has sparked fury among settlers and their supporters in parliament, with right-wing MPs set to bring the two bills for debate and a vote in a Knesset session scheduled for the late morning.
Netanyahu strongly opposes the bills on the grounds they would create an international backlash, and has reportedly threatened to sack any cabinet minister or deputy who backs the proposed legislation.
Despite a commanding majority of 94 within the 120-seat coalition, Netanyahu has struggled to rein in the far-right members of his ruling right-wing Likud party, many of whom have said they will back the move to legalise the Ulpana homes.
But just hours ahead of the vote, Netanyahu appeared have won the power struggle, with a majority of MPs set to vote the bills down, Israeli commentators said.
At least two ministers have said they will back the bill—Yuli Edelstein, a Likud minister who holds the public diplomacy portfolio, and Science Minister Daniel Hershkowitz, who heads the Jewish Home party.
But after some hesitation, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who heads the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu faction, said he and his party of 15 seats would vote against, a statement said.
Netanyahu has said he backs the idea of physically relocating the five buildings, moving them stone by stone to a new location, in a plan which is being examined by Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein.
Meanwhile, hundreds of settlers began the last leg of a three-day march to Jerusalem in support of the bills.
The march began on Monday morning outside the condemned buildings, which lie on the outskirts of the Beit El settlement near Ramallah.
Israel differentiates between "legal" settlements and "illegal" outposts, but the international community views all settlement on occupied territory as a violation of international law.
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