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News > World

Israel Postpones Vote on Legalizing Illegal Settlement Outposts

  • Israelis prepare for an eviction of the illegal Jewish settlement outpost of Amona.

    Israelis prepare for an eviction of the illegal Jewish settlement outpost of Amona. | Photo: Reuters

Published 30 January 2017
Opinion

Outposts on private Palestinian land are even considered illegal in Israel, which contravenes international law by building settlements in occupied territory.

Shortly after Israel approved hundreds of settlement homes in East Jerusalem and a recent U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the illegal practice, Israeli parliament postponed Monday a vote on a bill that would retroactively legalize about 4,000 homes built in outposts on privately-owned Palestinian land.

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While the state of Israel has pillaged and plundered Palestinian land and expanded settlements that are illegal under international law, these outposts even violate Israeli Supreme Court rulings. The attorney general has even deemed the practice unconstitutional.

Passage of the legislation is backed by the right-wing government, even though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had privately opposed the bill, which won preliminary parliamentary approval in November.

The far-right Jewish Home party had pressed to revive the legislation, as Netanyahu quietly pushed back amid international denunciations condemning both settlements and outposts.

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The homes in the legislation are outposts built in the West Bank without Israeli government approval. The new law seeks to allow settlers to hold on to land if, as stated by the bill, they "innocently" took it — that is, without knowledge that the land belongs to Palestinians — or if homes were built there at the state's instruction. Palestinian owners would purportedly receive financial compensation from Israel.

Last week, Israel gave the green light to building permits for more than 560 homes in three East Jerusalem settlements. Israeli authorities are expecting that President Donald Trump will support the settlement project — which is illegal under international law — and others like it, given his unfettered support for Israel.

All Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are considered illegal according to international law and many countries in the international community have called on Israel to put an end to such projects in order to advance a peace process with Palestine.

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