Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new unity government on Wednesday successfully navigated the first major test of its stability, since its inauguration last month.
The country's Knesset members killed a bill that would have legalized disputed Jewish construction in a West Bank settlement that the Supreme Court recently ruled as illegal.
The court said five three-story apartment buildings in the Ulpana neighborhood of Bet El near Ramallah were build on private Palestinian land, and ordered the government to remove them by July 1.
According to Netanyahu's plan, the 30 families residing in the structures would be relocated to a nearby abandoned military base. In addition, the promised plan called for building some 300 apartments elsewhere in Bet El, which is considered legal according to Israeli law.
While some members of the Netanyahu's Likud party initially came out in favor of the proposed bill, in the end, by threatening to fire any minister who voted for the bill, the prime minister was able to impose his will and get most Likud members to cast an opposing vote.
"His (Netanyahu's) own party has become radicalized, and he is trying to free himself from the crutches of the more radical elements in his own party," Dr. Dan Schueftan, of the University of Haifa, told Xinhua.
Netanyahu leads one of the largest coalition governments in Israeli history, with 94 out of 120 seats in the unicameral legislature. The new government was formed last month when former opposition leader and Kadima party chairman Shaul Mofaz agreed to join Netanyahu's government.
One of the main advantages of the new government is that such a wide coalition would provide the stability necessary to deal with thorny domestic and international issues that lay ahead, without risking a government collapse if one party quits.
There was speculation prior to Wednesday's vote that important coalition parties Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu might vote in favor of the bill. However, after the vote it became clear that members of the two parties had either abstained, or voted against the bill.
Netanyahu promised to build 10 apartment buildings for each one building razed, and he said in Wednesday's statement that he "felt and shared" their pain in a direct appeal to Ulpana's residents.
"There is no government that will support settlements more than the one I lead," the prime minister said.
Prof. Avraham Diskin of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem said that what happened on Wednesday wasn't really a crucial test for the stability of Netanyahu's government.
"The most crucial issue for the stability of the government is really what happens with the Tal Law and the budget," Diskin said.
The Tal Law exempts ultra-orthodox Jewish men from the otherwise mandatory military service, which angers other sectors of Israeli society that do serve. A new law under consideration would require that those not serving to do civilian national service instead, and potentially include both ultra-orthodox men and Israeli-Arabs.
Additionally, following last summer's nationwide social and economic protests, the government is under pressure to shift Defense Ministry funds to cover some of the reforms it put forward to deal with the protesters' demands.
However, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and other Knesset members are concerned that regional upheavals in Egypt, Syria and elsewhere, as well as the Iranian nuclear threat make such military belt-tightening a non-starter.
While there will be tough negotiations on the above-mentioned issues, Diskin predicted that Netanyahu will survive those challenges, as well.
However, Diskin didn't believe that Netanyahu would resort to the same tactics used in the Ulpana case, when dealing with the additional three settlements and outposts that the court has also ruled to evacuate in coming months.
"Every case is going to be tackled individually, and I don't think that Netanyahu is interested to make what happened today a precedent," Diskin said.
"He is trying to tamp the fire down in each case, so he succeeded today, temporarily. Unfortunately the fire is all over the place," Diskin added.
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