Amnesty Int'l: Up to 13,000 Hanged in Syrian Slaughterhouse Read More on Page 12 February 10, 2017 | 12 Shevat 5777
Vol. 14, Iss. 6
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Knesset Passes Historic Settlement Legalization Bill - UN & EU Issue Warnings
Following the passage on Monday night in the Knesset of the “Regulation Law,” the US State Department seemed to take a “wait-and-see” approach - while, at the same time, calling on Israel’s enemies to withhold hostile action against Israel. A department official called on the Palestinians and their supporters not to challenge the law before the international community, claiming such action would be “counterproductive to peace.”
By: Andrew Friedman
W
hile the United States has refused to condemn passage of the Regulation Law Monday night, Britain and the European Union slammed the legislation on Tuesday, saying that it threatened the pursuit of a two-state solution. Neither referred to the previous situation on Cyprus, when Greeks were allowed to recompense Turks for building on their land when the island was divided rather than abandon their home, this with the consent of the Hague Court. Th British government warned Israel in a statement Tuesday that the law would diminish the Jewish state’s position around the world.
The statement, issued by Minister for the Middle East Tobias Ellwood, comes on the heels of a meeting between UK Prime Minister The esa May and Israeli Premier Binyamin Netanyahu. "As a longstanding friend of Israel, I
The bill intends to retroactively legalize housing units built by Israelis on privately-owned land in Judea and Samaria, by empowering the government to retroactively expropriate the land, so as to avoid having to evict the residents and demolish their homes
condemn the passing of the Land Regularization Bill by the Knesset, which damages Israel’s standing with its international partners," said Ellwood. "It is of great concern," he continued, "that the bill paves the way for signific nt growth in settlements deep in the West Bank, threatening the viability of the two-state solution. We reiterate our support for a two-state solution leading to a secure Israel that is safe from terrorism, and a contiguous, viable, and sovereign Palestinian state." The European Union also chastised Israel over the law’s passage, delaying a meeting between EU and Israeli officials long seen as a step towards mending strained relations. The summit, slated for the end of
February, has now been postponed indefin tely. The Tazpit News Service reports that the bill intends to retroactively legalize housing units built by Israelis on privately-owned land in Judea and Samaria, by empowering the government to retroactively expropriate the land, so as to avoid having to evict the residents and demolish their homes. Due to the lack of clarity of land registration in Judea and Samaria, there are a large number of cases where land that was assumed to be public land, and therefore approved for settlement construction, was subsequently proven to be privately owned land. The law will apply only in cases where the construction was carried out without prior knowledge that the
land was privately owned. In addition, the construction had to have enjoyed implicit (statements or policies encouraging Israelis to build communities there) or explicit (electricity and water infrastructure, Egged bus service, municipal services such as garbage collection, government-funded buildings like ritual baths, etc.) government support. If those conditions are met, and an individual or family establishes ownership of the land, that subsequently turns out not to have been public land, but privately owned land, the law would empower the government to retroactively legalize the settlement, or those parts of it built
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