Settlement bill slammed
Israeli legislators have thrown their weight behind a controversial bill that will retroactively legalise settlement-building on private Palestinian land.
ISRAELI legislators have thrown their weight behind a controversial bill that will retroactively legalise settlement-building on private Palestinian land.
The bill, which passed a preliminary reading on Monday, would prevent Palestinians whose land has been built on by settlers from demanding their land back, and force them to accept compensation.
The ruling coalition backed the bill, while opposition leader Isaac Herzog has called it “national suicide” and claimed that it “endangers the character of the state”.
The controversy over the bill came at a sensitive time for the ruling coalition. On Tuesday, Israel’s state comptroller released a stinging report saying that the home front was ill-prepared for the Hamas-Israel fighting of 2014, and that the government has failed to properly address the challenges since then.
The report focussed on provision of bomb shelters, on warning technology, and various other issues. It found that around two million of Israel’s eight million citizens still lack shelters. The opposition ramped up its criticism of the government after the report came out, with Herzog saying it reinforced a sense among the public that “everything has been neglected.”
Among the settler-right, there was jubilation over the settlements bill, with politicians and community leaders saying that its progress asserts Israeli rights over the land of the West Bank.
“This is a historic day in the Knesset, which went from the track of establishing a Palestinian state to the track of [extending] Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” declared Naftali Bennett, leader of the Jewish Home party.
Despite the international community’s disapproval of any tightening Israeli grip on the West Bank, Bennett’s party is determined that the bill will lead to the West Bank becoming an official part of Israel rather than a region under military control as it is now. “Have no doubt,” he said. “The settlement bill is leading the way to sovereignty.”
Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit is opposed to the bill, and the Israeli left is seething.
“It’s one of the worst laws the Knesset has ever tried to pass,” Gilad Grossman, spokesman for Yesh Din, claimed in an interview with The AJN. “It basically means that Palestinians will no longer have property rights. It is unconstitutional and immoral.”
He added: “A similar proposal came up in 2012 and died down in the first discussion, yet today there is a political battle on the right – they are all trying to show that they are the ones who can prevent [outpost] evacuations.”
The legislation has been prompted by the looming deadline for the evacuation of Amona. The 50 families of this outpost in the West Bank are meant to leave their homes by December 25, because construction has taken place on privately-owned Palestinian land. The legislation was initially an attempt to let them stay in their homes.
However, it now looks unlikely the legislation will prevent this evacuation. The government currently plans to move Amona within the same West Bank district.
“The solution that we are reaching and intend to propose will enable the residents to stay on the mountain as a community,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “It is true that they will have to move but they will be able to stay in the area and this is extremely important news.” Yet Amona residents say that the plan is not good enough, and they should stay put.
The legislation will start its formal Knesset readings over the coming days. Benny Begin of the ruling Likud party was suspended from an important committee role in Knesset as punishment by party whips for opposing the legislation.
NATHAN JEFFAY
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