Israel to Pass Bill to Annex Illegal West Bank Settlements

Wes Bank, MINA – Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation is set to approve a bill on Sunday that would allow the annexation of illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank around Jerusalem, in clear violation of international law and relevant UN resolutions, Palestine Chronicle reported.

The bill proposes the establishment of “metropolitan Jerusalem,” which would incorporate settlements such as Ma’ale Adumim, Givat Ze’ev, Efrat, and Ma’ale Mikhmas, the Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported on Friday.

It noted that according to the bill, “The law, jurisdiction and administration of (Israel) will apply to the territory of the Jerusalem Metropolitan Area,” and also imposes that “Jerusalem’s mayor will be the metropolitan area leader and that the heads of the local settlements will be the directors of the various municipal authorities.”

Likud MK Dan Illouz who has introduced the bill told Haaretz that “”Israel has to act according to its interests and without fear. This law is a major step towards full sovereignty (of the West Bank).”

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‘Symbol of Jewish People’
According to the bill’s explanatory notes it would “restore the city’s status as ‘the symbol and the heart of the Jewish people, and will mobilize the best parties in Israel and world Jewry to strengthen Jerusalem,’” Haaretz reported.

A non-governmental organization, Ir Amin, criticized the bill saying it “seeks to promote an illegal annexation under international law and is a gross breach of international law by Israel.”

“Annexing West Bank settlements under the bill will divide the West Bank, sever the current critical territorial continuity between Bethlehem-Hebron and the Ramallah-Nablus areas, and further isolate East Jerusalem and its residents from the Palestinian space,” it said in an opinion, the paper noted.

Ir Amin also said that the move would be “another critical obstacle to a future diplomatic solution and an alternative prospect for the entire region.” []

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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)