Israel’s coalition on brink of collapse after losing settler law vote

Nationalist party New Hope threatens to exit arrangement after vote on West Bank settlers

Israel's coalition government is teetering on the brink of collapse after a dramatic Knesset showdown over legislation to extend legal protections for settlers in the occupied West Bank.

In what was variously described by Israeli media as one of the most surreal votes in Israeli history" and political suicide", the first reading of a bill renewing civilian legal rights for Jewish settlers in the West Bank failed to pass on Monday night. Members of the Knesset had weighed up their positions regarding whether it was more important to strengthen or weaken the ideologically-diverse government, which recently lost its razor-thin majority.