Israel’s Government Loses Parliamentary Vote, Threatening Coalition

Israel’s fragile coalition government lost a crucial vote Monday in parliament to pass a routine bill extending Israeli law to settlers living in the West Bank, a result that complicates the country’s rule over the territory and threatens new elections.

The law, enacted as an emergency measure following Israel’s capture of the West Bank from Jordan 55 years ago in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, usually has wide political support and passes easily. But former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu marshaled the entire opposition—which includes politicians who strongly support the law in principle—to vote against it in an attempt to embarrass the ruling coalition and potentially bring it down.