What the Palestinian legislative vote can and cannot decide
Background: the powers of the council, and what is outside its reach.
No photo with this story — no licence-verified image of the event itself was available.
Preparations are under way for Palestinian legislative elections, with field registration of voters already begun in West Bank governorates.
The legislative council legislates and holds the executive to account; it does not control borders, crossings or movement between governorates, which remain under Israeli control.
That division is why analysts differ over what a vote changes — a disagreement set out at length in +972 Magazine.
Registration is not required of residents of Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip at this stage.