Israel approves controversial West Bank decision

Middle East

Israel approves controversial West Bank decision

Israel’s government wants to make it easier for settlers to acquire land in the West Bank. The federal government warns: This contradicts obligations under international law.

According to media reports, the Israeli government has approved a highly controversial proposal that would make it easier for Israeli settlers to purchase land in the West Bank. The federal government had already sharply criticized a corresponding previous decision by the Israeli security cabinet. The move could have far-reaching consequences for the Palestinian population in the West Bank.

The decision, which allows Israeli private individuals to buy land in the West Bank and transfers parts of the administration of the West Bank to civilian Israeli authorities, “contradicts Israel’s obligations under international law,” a spokesman for the Foreign Office in Berlin recently criticized.

It represents “a further step towards a de facto annexation.” Israel continues to be an occupying power in the West Bank, “and as an occupying power it is against international law to build settlements,” added the spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry. The transfer of certain administrative activities to civilian Israeli authorities also contradicts the temporary nature of an occupation.

However, the Israeli Foreign Ministry spoke of “false information”. The government had only approved an “administrative measure in the area of ​​civil and property law,” the statement said. “This measure is intended to bring order to property registration procedures and enable transparent and thorough clarification of rights in order to resolve legal disputes.”

According to the Israeli TV channel N12, Defense Minister Israel Katz spoke of a “significant security and administrative policy step aimed at ensuring the State of Israel’s full control, assertiveness and freedom of action in the area.”

The right-wing extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said: “We are continuing the revolution of settlement policy and control over all parts of our country.” For the first time since the Six-Day War in 1967, “we are bringing order and governance back to the management of the land in Judea and Samaria (West Bank),” he said, according to the TV station.

Israel conquered, among other things, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War in 1967. Today, around 700,000 Israeli settlers live there among three million Palestinians. The Palestinians claim the areas for their own state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The Israeli organization Peace Now said in response to the new decision: “The government has authorized a massive theft of land in the West Bank – on the way to a de facto annexation, completely contrary to the will of the people and contrary to Israeli interests.” The organization further criticized: “This is a radical and irresponsible government that ignores international law that prohibits such regulations, ignores the criticism of friendly states and is dragging us into catastrophe.”