Israeli settlement law expected to be challenged
The Israeli Parliament’s adoption of a contentious law meant to retroactively legalise thousands of West Bank settlement homes built unlawfully on private Palestinian land is expected to trigger international outrage and a flurry of lawsuits against the measure.
The explosive law, approved by lawmakers yesterday, is the latest in a series of pro-settler steps taken by Israel’s hardline Government since the election of Donald Trump as United States President. Trump is seen as more sympathetic to Israel’s settlement policies than his predecessor, Barack Obama.
“We are voting tonight on our right to the land,” Cabinet minister Ofir Akunis said during a stormy debate ahead of the vote. “We are voting tonight on the connection between the Jewish people and its land. This whole land is ours. All of it.”
Critics say the legislation enshrines into law the theft of Palestinian land, and it is expected to be challenged in Israel’s Supreme Court.
According to the law, Palestinian landowners would be compensated either with money or alternative land, even if they did not agree to give up their property.
David Harris, CEO of AJC, the global Jewish advocacy organisation, said: “Israel’s High Court can and should reverse this misguided legislation”, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Attorney General, Avichai Mandelblit, called the bill unconstitutional and said he would not defend it in the Supreme Court.
Critics have warned it could drag Israel into a legal battle at the International Criminal Court at The Hague, in the Netherlands, which is already pursuing a preliminary examination into settlements.