Israel just crossed a line it has never crossed before

As police forcibly evacuated the illegal Israeli settlement of Amona last week, in the West Bank, right-wing Israeli lawmakers were frantically preparing legislation to ensure that no other settlements could be cleared in the future.

The legislation was passed by the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, 60-52 late Monday night.

The unprecedented “Regularization Law” crosses new legal and political lines — applying Israeli law to Palestinians in the West Bank — and comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing for a summit with US President Donald Trump next week.

The law gives Israel the right to expropriate land where Israeli settlements or outposts have previously been built, even if the land is owned by private Palestinians. Palestinian landowners, even if their rights to the land are recognized by the Israeli authorities, will not be permitted to claim the land or take possession of it “until there is a diplomatic resolution of the status of the territories.”

Although the law does not grant the settlers ownership of the land, it does permit them to remain in their homes if “the settlements or outposts were built in good faith or at the state’s instruction.”

 

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