Israeli ministers defy Netanyahu, vote for bill allowing disputed settlers to remain

Record ID: 79076

  • Title: Israeli ministers defy Netanyahu, vote for bill allowing disputed settlers to remain
  • Date: 13th November 2016
  • Summary: PEOPLE IN STREET DOME OF THE ROCK DURING SUNSET (AUDIO: MUEZZIN) FULL MOON OLD CITY OF JERUSALEM DURING SUNSET (AUDIO: MUEZZIN)
  • Embargoed: 28th November 2016 20:18
  • Keywords: West Bank Amona Settlements Netanyahu Bennett Muezzin
  • Location: JERUSALEM/ AMONA, WEST BANK
  • City: JERUSALEM/ AMONA, WEST BANK
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA00458A2CZR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: An Israeli ministerial committee on Sunday (November 13) defied Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and voted to support a bill to allow settlers in the occupied West Bank to remain in homes built on privately owned Palestinian land.
    Israel's Supreme Court had ruled the government must evacuate a few dozen families from Amona settlement and return the land to its Palestinian owners but right-wing lawmakers want to pay them compensation instead and allow the settlers to stay.
    The government has sought an extension for the end-of-year evacuation so that it can find somewhere else for settlers to live, but the lawmakers who support the settlers' wish to remain presented the bill to try to circumvent the ruling.
    Such a change is Israeli law, if eventually approved by the parliament, would mean that Jewish settlers will be allowed to remain on property already built on land privately owned by Palestinians. Israeli human rights groups that monitor settlements say that between 40-60% of Jewish settlements in the West Bank are built on such land.
    Israel has occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians want those territories along with the Gaza Strip for a state but peace talks have stalled since 2014.
    The Palestinians see Israeli settlements as a major obstacle to reaching a peace agreement and want them dismantled.
    Settlers demonstrated outside Israel's parliament in Jerusalem during Sunday's cabinet meeting, calling on politicians to prevent the evacuation.
    In a show of support, Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat toured the outpost of Amona just hours before the ministerial committee has convened.
    Israel's attorney-general, Avihai Mandelblit, said in a statement that the bill was legally flawed in its current form as it contravened private property rights legislation and did not tally with Israel's international law commitments.
    "The Attorney-General clearly says that raising the "Resolution Bill" before receiving an answer from the supreme court can severely damage, and indeed he says will severely damage, the chances to get a postponement," Netanyahu told his ministers during the weekly cabinet meeting.
    Netanyahu had insisted on delaying any political move and told his cabinet on Sunday to allow the new administration of U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump to take over in Washington before setting future policy.
    But Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked from the ultranationalist Jewish Home party, partners in Netanyahu's right-wing coalition ignored his call to postpone the vote.
    "I am convinced that, just like all Likud ministers, the prime minister will give his strong support to finally correcting this injustice," Bennett told reporters before entering the cabinet meeting.
    Following authorisation of the private members' bill in the committee, it now heads to parliament on Wednesday (November 16) where it will be debated but it is still some distance from becoming law.
    Also on Sunday, the committee voted to support a bill to enforce the lowering of the volume of loudspeakers on mosques calling worshippers to prayer - a move which Arab-Israeli lawmakers described as racist.
    "Many times, citizens from all across the Israeli society, of all religions, turned to me complaining about the suffering and noise they suffer due to excessive noise coming from houses of worship," Netanyahu said of the bill during the cabinet meeting.
    "This is the custom in many cities in Europe as well as in various places in the Muslim world, where they limited the volumes for the sake of the general public. I support similar legislation and enforcement in the state of Israel," he added.
    Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that enacting both laws would force the Palestinians to appeal to international bodies to try to stop them.
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