Israeli law ‘legalises land theft’
THE Israeli parliament on Monday finalised a controversial law legalising dozens of Jewish outposts built on private Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.
The law – approved by 60 members of parliament to 52 against – was slammed by the Palestinians as a means to “legalise theft” of land.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who did not participate in the law’s final votes since he was returning from a trip to Britain, said he had updated the US administration so as not to surprise our friends.
Speaking after the law was finalised, Bezalel Smotrich, of the far-right Jewish Home party, who was one of the forces behind the legislation, thanked the American people for electing Donald Trump as president, without whom the law would have probably not passed.
The new law will allow Israel to legally seize Palestinian private land on which Israelis built outposts without knowing it was private property or because the state allowed them to do so.
Palestinian owners will be compensated financially or with other land.
The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) said the law was a means to “legalise theft” and demonstrated “the Israeli government’s will to destroy any chances for a political solution” or peace.
Ahead of the vote, opposition chief and Labour leader Isaac Herzog lashed out against the “despicable law” that he said would undermine Israel’s Jewish majority.
“The vote tonight isn’t for or against the settlers, rather Israel’s interests,” he said.
The law would “annex millions of Palestinians into Israel”, he warned, and expose Israeli soldiers and politicians to lawsuits at international criminal courts.
Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis of Netanyahu’s Likud party said the argument was over the right to the Land of Israel.
“All of the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people,” he told Herzog, using the biblical term that included the West Bank. “This right is eternal and indisputable.” The law is seen by critics as promoting at least partial annexation of the West Bank, a key demand for parts of Netanyahu’s rightwing cabinet, including Jewish Home.
Human Rights Watch said the law “reflects Israel’s manifest disregard of international law” and deepens the “de facto permanent occupation” of the West Bank, warning that “the Trump administration cannot shield them from the scrutiny of the International Criminal Court”.
Israeli rights group B’Tselem said the law proved Israel “has no intention of ending its control over the Palestinians or its theft of their land”.
The bill could still be challenged, with Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman saying last week: “The chance it will be struck down by the Supreme Court is 100%.”
The law applies to 53 outposts and homes within existing settlements recognised by Israel, built on Palestinian land, according to the anti-settlement organisation Peace Now. — AFP