Court should throw out Israel’s settlement law

With Donald Trump ensconsced in the White House, Israel is settling into its settlement policy. A new and controversial land-grab law passed by the Knesset gives legal sanction to 4,000 Jewish homes built on Palestinian land. There’s a sense of urgency in Israel’s legislative action though Trump has signalled he may be willing to slow down when it comes to this encroachment that breaks all international laws. Even the government’s top lawyer called the move ‘unconstitutional’ but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet did not pay heed to legal advice as it were. It’s as if Tel Aviv was making up for lost time and grabbing what it could before Washington changes its mind. Jewish settlers who had grabbed privatelyowned Palestinian land can under the ‘Regulation Bill’ prove ignorance that they had built on plots that were not theirs as the Israeli state encouraged them to do it. With these settlements, Jews are building deeper into the West Bank .This shocking land theft now has legislative sanction that ousts ordinary Palestinians from their homes and livelihoods.

Palestinian authorities said this development could hurt the two-state solution and condemned the law. Israeli NGOs are taking to the streets, but the rightwing government led by Netanyahu does not seem to care. The fight is not over yet because the Supreme Court could strike down the law. It almost certainly will. This move is more to placate Netanyahu’s critics who believe he is not rightist enough. It’s aimed at a domestic audience. The Palestinians could also take the case to the International Criminal Court. Civil society in the country is united in oppostion against the government. A moral movement taking shape in that could put paid to Netanyahu’s plans. The White House is also withholding comment as it awaits the top court’s verdict. Only last week the court ruled that 100 Jewish settlers had built on Palestinian land near the Amona outpost in the West Bank. They were evicted following the court’s orders. All eyes are again on the Supreme Court which has a moral duty to overturn the law.