Israel Approves Legislation Retroactively Legalizing Settlements No immediate reaction from Trump administration, which initially indicated it wouldn’t pressure Israel to cease settlement expansion By Nancy Shekter-Porat

Posted By on February 7th, 2017

https://www.wsj.com/articles/israel-approves-legislation-retroactively-legalizing-settlements-1486426618

TEL AVIV—Israel’s parliament on Monday approved legislation that retroactively legalizes thousands of Jewish settler homes in the occupied West Bank, a step likely to spark legal challenges and draw international condemnation.

The passage of the bill by a vote of 60-52 in Israel’s 120-seat parliament follows a string of pro-settler steps taken by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since Donald Trump took office as U.S. president.

While Israeli critics of the legislation vowed to go to court, Bezalel Smotrich, a member of the ruling coalition’s Jewish Home Party who co-wrote the bill, hailed the vote as a milestone in the country’s history.

“On this day, the State of Israel decided that developing and advancing settlements in Judea and Samaria is in Israel’s interest,” he said, using the biblical names for the West Bank. “Now we will continue to apply sovereignty and continue to build and develop settlements in all parts of the country.”

Mr. Netanyahu wasn’t present in parliament for the vote: He was returning to Israel from London, where he met U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May earlier in the day for talks on alleged threats posed by Iran, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and bilateral trade.

There was no immediate reaction from the Trump administration, which initially indicated it wouldn’t pressure Israel to cease settlement expansion, reversing the position of its predecessor. In a statement on Friday, however, the White House said Israel’s settlement construction “may not be helpful.”

Mr. Netanyahu is scheduled to visit the White House Feb. 15 for talks with President Trump.

Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Defense, Eli Ben-Dahan (front) and other Israeli lawmakers gesture as they attend a vote on a bill at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem Monday. Photo: ammar awad/Reuters

Under the legislation approved late Monday, Israeli authorities are allowed to declare as government property the private Palestinian land upon which the formerly illegal enclaves were built. The measure calls for the Palestinian owners of the land to be compensated with money or alternative plots of land. CONTINUE AT SITE

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