Responding to a public outcry over a measure that would bar Arabs from moving into Jewish communities, the Israeli cabinet Sunday voted to freeze the legislation.
Ministers decided by a vote of 22 to 3 to refer the issue to a committee led by former minister Yaakov Neeman, which is weighing the government's policies on settlements, an official said. The panel is expected to issue findings in October.
Sunday's move is a reversal of a decision made last week by ministers to support a bill that would permit Jewish communities in Galilee to exclude Arab residents. The measure was proposed as a way of bypassing the Supreme Court, which recently overruled the exclusion of an Arab family from the settlement of Katzir.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the cabinet that the justices erred in the Katzir ruling, according to a cabinet source, reported The Jerusalem Post.
However, Sharon added: While the issue requires some rethinking, "legislating a law about something I'm not sure is crucial and has an impact on Jewish-Arab and internal Jewish relations, I don't think would be right."
Describing Sunday's decision, Cabinet Secretary Gideon Sahar said that last week's vote in favor of the bill had not been final. "We examined the legal aspects and whether we have alternatives to the law and decided to take a different course of action," Sahar said. (Albawaba.com)
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