JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli parliament's
adoption of a contentious law meant to retroactively legalize 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 late on Monday, is the latest in a series
of pro-settler steps taken by Israel's hard-line government since the election
of Donald Trump as U.S. president.
Trump is seen as more sympathetic to Israel's
settlement policies than his fiercely critical predecessor Barack Obama, and
the Israeli government has approved plans to build thousands of new homes on occupied
territory since Trump took office.
"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.
The vote passed 60-52 in Israel's 120-member
Knesset following a raucous debate in which opposition lawmakers shouted from
their seats at governing coalition lawmakers speaking in favor of the vote.
Some legislators supportive of the law took pictures of the plenum during the
vote while some spectators in visitors' seats raised a black cloth in apparent
protest.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had
voiced misgivings about the law in the lead-up to the vote, reportedly
expressing concern that it could trigger international censure and saying he
wanted to coordinate with the Trump administration before moving ahead on a
vote. He told reporters on a trip to London that he had updated Washington and
was ready to move ahead with the law. Netanyahu was on his way back from the
trip and was not present for the vote.
The White House's immediate response was to
refer to its statement last week that said the construction of new settlements
"may not be helpful" in achieving an Israeli-Palestinian peace. The
State Department later said "the Trump administration will withhold
comment on the legislation until the relevant court ruling."
David Harris, CEO of AJC, the global Jewish
advocacy organization, said that "Israel's High Court can and should
reverse this misguided legislation" by Knesset ahead of Netanyahu's
meeting with Trump in February. The parliament's action "is misguided and
likely to prove counter-productive to Israel's core national interests,"
Harris said in a statement.
Netanyahu's attorney general has called the
bill unconstitutional and said he won't 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, Netherlands, which is already pursuing a
preliminary examination into settlements.
Among the law's problematic elements is that
the West Bank is not sovereign Israeli territory and that Palestinians who live
there are not citizens and do not have the right to vote for the government
that imposed the law on them.
Palestinians condemned the law.
"This is an escalation that would only
lead to more instability and chaos. It is unacceptable. It is denounced and the
international community should act immediately," said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a
spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Netanyahu faced intense pressure from within
his nationalist coalition, especially from the pro-settler Jewish Home party,
to press ahead with the vote following the court-ordered evacuation last week
of the illegal Amona outpost found to have been built on private Palestinian
land. Over 40 settler families were forced to leave the 20-year-old outpost,
and on Monday construction vehicles demolished and removed the trailer homes
that remained behind.
Zehava Galon, leader of the dovish Meretz
party, wrote on Facebook ahead of the vote that Netanyahu "declares that
the legalization bill is dangerous for Israel and instead of standing on his
hind legs to stop this shameful law, he presses ahead with it."
After years of condemnations from the Obama
administration over settlement construction, Israel's government has ramped up
settlement initiatives since Trump took office, announcing plans for some 6,000
new homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem and promising to build a new
settlement for the Amona evacuees.
Trump has signaled a far more accepting
approach to settlements, raising hopes in Netanyahu's government that it will
be able to step up construction. The White House said little as Netanyahu
announced plans during Trump's first two weeks in office to build over 6,000
new settler homes. But after Netanyahu announced his plan to establish a new
settlement for the first time in two decades, Trump indicated that he, too,
might have his limits.
"While we don't believe the existence of
settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or
the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be
helpful in achieving that goal," the White House said.
The Palestinians want the West Bank, east
Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast
war for their future state. Much of the international community views
settlements as illegal and an obstacle to reaching peace with the Palestinians.
Shortly before leaving office, Obama allowed the U.N. Security Council to pass
a resolution declaring settlements illegal.
Before the law passed, the U.N. Mideast
envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, called on lawmakers to vote against the law, saying
that "it will have far-reaching legal consequences for Israel and greatly
diminish the prospects for Arab-Israeli peace."
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