Israel
passes bill retroactively legalising Jewish settlements
The
bill was supported by Benjamin Netanyahu, but opponents said the law
‘makes theft an official Israeli policy’
Peter Beaumont in
Jerusalem
Monday 6 February
2017 21.53 GMT
Israel’s
parliament has approved a controversial bill to retroactively
“legalise” illegal Jewish outposts built on privately owned
Palestinian land, setting up an inevitable confrontation with the
international community.
The so-called
regulation bill paves the way for Israel to recognise thousands of
illegally built Jewish settler homes constructed on privately-owned
Palestinian land in what opponents have dubbed a “theft” and
“land grab”.
The law
retroactively legalises the construction, with the original
landowners to be compensated either with money or alternative land –
even if they do not agree to give up their property.
The new law is the
latest in a series of pro-settlement moves by Israel since the
inauguration of US President Donald Trump, which has seen some 6,000
new Jewish settlement homes announced in the occupied Palestinian
territories in the past fortnight.
The international
community overwhelmingly opposes settlements and sees them as an
obstacle to peace.
Israeli prime
minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters at the end of his visit to
London to meet UK Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday that he had
informed the White House the vote would take place on Monday night,
and had indicated he would support its passage.
The new law –
which is likely to face an almost immediate challenge in the courts –
was condemned by the Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog, who
warned ahead of the vote that it would lead to Israel being tried at
the international criminal court.
Comparing the
legislation to a “freight train”, Herzog added: “Its cars will
carry international indictments against Israeli and Jewish soldiers
and officers. This indictment will be signed by the prime minister of
Israel.”
The law was quickly
condemned by human rights groups including Peace, which issued a
statement accusing the Israeli prime minister of being “willing to
compromise the future of both Israelis and Palestinians in order to
satisfy a small group of extreme settlers for the sake of his own
political survival”.
It added: “By
passing this law, Netanyahu makes theft an official Israeli policy
and stains the Israeli law books.”
The new law was
praised, however, by far right Israel MP Bezalel Smotrich, who
described the passage of the new law as a “historic day for the
settlement movement and for Israel”.
He added: “Today
Israel decreed that developing settlement in Judea and Samaria [the
West Bank] is an Israeli interest. From here we move on to expanding
Israeli sovereignty [on the West Bank] and continuing to build and
develop settlements across the land.”
Speaking ahead of
the vote, UN envoy for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay
Mladenov, warned: “If adopted into law, it will have far-reaching
legal consequences for Israel and greatly diminish the prospects for
Arab-Israeli peace.”
Netanyahu had blown
hot and cold over the legislation – reportedly telling ministers he
feared it would lead the country to the dock of the international
criminal court.
According to
comments made by Netanyahu the timing of the late night vote on the
bill was coordinated with the Trump administration.
A White House
statement last week offered the mildest of criticism of a recent
surge in Israeli settlement building announcements. It was read by
some as expressing irritation that the Trump administration had not
been forewarned of the Israeli plans ahead of a meeting between Trump
and Netanyahu next Monday.
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