Anger as Netanyahu agrees to recognise illegal ‘outposts’

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israel’s incoming prime minister, has agreed to legalise dozens of small settlements, known as “outposts”, in the West Bank as part of ongoing talks with his extreme-right coalition partners.

According to Israeli media reports, Mr Netanyahu agreed with Itamar Bengvir, co-leader of the Religious Zionism faction, to legalise the outposts within the first 60 days of a new coalition.

Outposts are small communities of Jewish settlers built on land taken from Palestinians in the West Bank and are illegal under both Israeli and international law.

Settlements, which are larger and also built on land taken from Palestinians, are supported by the Israeli government but widely considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

There are reportedly around 50 outposts in the West Bank and it was unclear if the decision was to legalise all of them or a selected majority.

The move was condemned by the Palestinian Authority, which warned in a statement that it “entrenches settlement, leads to the takeover of more Palestinian land and legitimises the outposts, especially in the north of the West Bank”.

“The terms of this agreement strike once again at the very foundations of any political efforts towards future negotiations and tops off Israel’s deliberate sabotage of any chance to make peace based on the principle of the twostate solution,” the statement warned.