United Kingdom condemns Israeli bill legalizing settlements

Palestinian leaders have accused Israel of legalising the theft of Palestinian land after the country passed a law that could lead to the retroactive sanction of thousands of West Bank settlement homes.

The new law is the latest in a series of pro-settlement moves by Israel since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.

PCHR called upon the United Nations, particularly the UNSC and General Assembly, to take practical measures to face Israel’s blatant violation of the global law rules and to put an end to treating Israel as a State above the law.

But the stakes are highest for Netanyahu, who in a cumulative decade in the premiership has built his political success in playing off Israel’s various constituencies and using the United States as a constant and convenient excuse for why he can never truly pursue a coherent strategy on the West Bank.

While enabling settlers to keep the land, it sets up a compensation system in which Palestinians would either receive alternative properties or annual payments at above-market prices.

There has been a sharp acceleration in Israeli settlement expansion plans since Trump took office last month, with more than 6,000 new homes announced in less than a fortnight.

Palestinian officials say the bill could kill chances for a peace deal between Israel and Palestinians, the Haaretz news organization reported. Opposing the law would have risked alienating his supporters and ceding ground to Jewish Home.

Though the legislation, passed by a vote of 52 to 60, was backed by Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, it has raised tensions in the Government.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has recently voiced support for the bill, reportedly requested that the vote be postponed because of “one aspect of the bill that needed to be examined”, according to sources speaking to Israeli daily Haaretz.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was flying back from London when the vote took place.

“The policy Israel persistently pursues despite the UN Security Council Resolution dated 23 December 2016 and numbered 2334 which put on record that illegal settlement activities at the occupied Palestinian territories are destroying the basis for the two state solution, is unacceptable”, he said.

While the global community layered on its criticism, the Israeli Right celebrated its victory. They say the settlements, home to 600,000 Israelis, are making it increasingly impossible to partition the land into two states – a position that has wide global backing.

The U.K. government condemned on Tuesday an Israeli parliament bill to legalize around 4,000 illegally built homes on Palestinian land. The State Department later said “the Trump administration will withhold comment on the legislation until the relevant court ruling”.

The so-called “Regulation bill” offers financial support for the land confiscated from the Palestinians. “This is the first time we apply an Israeli law to territories that are not recognized as part of Israel”.