JNS.org reports: Just days after the settlement outpost of Amona was evacuated and demolished by order of Israel’s High Court of Justice, the Knesset passed controversial legislation to retroactively legalize all settlement housing sitting on property that has been identified as private Palestinian land.
The law’s passage is being hailed by supporters of Israel’s 40-year-old settlement enterprise as a step toward extension of full Israeli sovereignty over the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria, commonly known as the West Bank. Opponents have labeled the law a “land grab” and have petitioned Israel’s High Court to overturn it on the grounds that its passage violates international law.
Yet according to several leading legal scholars, the “Regulation Law” does not contradict Israeli law, and precedents both inside and outside Israel can be invoked to justify its passage within the context of international law.
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