Settlement bill allows seizure of Palestinian land


December 7, 2016
Sarah Benton


Palestinians erect a tent at the ‘Yasser Arafat outpost’, a nonviolent action organised by the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, protesting at two new Israeli settlement outposts in the Jordan Valley, West Bank, November 17, 2016. The action was a response to the the Israeli Knesset’s advancement of a law that will legalize settlement outposts earlier this week (November). The outpost, named after Yasser Arafat in order to mark Palestinian independence day, was demolished by the army. The two nearby Jewish outposts are still standing. The new law was passed by the Knesset on December 5th. Caption from +972, photo by Flash90.

Historic pro-settlement Israeli legislation (if taken seriously)

By Shmuel Rosner, Jewish Journal
December 06, 2016

There are two ways to understand the controversial bill that the Israeli legislature, the Knesset, passed yesterday in a preliminary vote: the first one is to dismiss it as yet another show of political bravado; the second one is to treat it as a turning point in Israel’s history. And, of course, this is the black and white portrait, to which one can add many shades of gray.

Let me explain: the settlement bill (or the Regulation Bill, as they call it) aims to allow Israel to seize land from its legal Palestinian owners and compensate these owners when homes of settlers were mistakenly built on this land. The rationale behind the legislation is as follows: Palestinians cannot sell land to Israelis in the West Bank because of a death penalty that the Palestinian authorities apply to sellers. Land in the West Bank doesn’t always come with orderly paperwork, and in some cases an owner is found only years after a settlement was built on the land. The idea of the law, then, is simple: compensate the owner (he cannot sell out of his or her own free will), and avoid the evacuation of the land by people who have been living on it for many years.

the occupying force is taking away private land from people who have no political leverage and no citizen rights, and hence no reasonable path to resist the decision

It is, of course, problematic legislation because of two issues:
The first one – because it takes land away from its legal owners. True, a state can confiscate land when it is needed for a road or another public necessity, but it does not confiscate land from one owner to let another owner live on the land.

The second one – the West Bank is not legally a part of Israel and hence the rules of the country do not fully apply to it. In this case, the occupying force is taking away private land from people who have no political leverage and no citizen rights, and hence no reasonable path to resist the decision.

What the Israeli Knesset did yesterday is to declare, for the first time, that the West Bank is part of Israel, to be annexed.

It is bad legislation, morally, legally, and politically. That is why the Attorney General, the legal advisor to the Knesset and the Prime Minister, oppose it. There is a fairly good chance that if it ultimately passes the supreme court would reject it.

So, should it be taken seriously?

Let’s begin with the yes. If it is taken seriously, what the Israeli Knesset did yesterday is to declare, for the first time, that it views the West Bank as a part of Israel – namely, without saying it, the Knesset was moving toward annexation. The head of the Jewish Home Party did make it clear: “This is a historic day in the Knesset, which went from establishing a Palestinian state to Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. Have no doubt: The settlement bill is leading the way to annexation.” Opposition leader Yitzhak Herzog played along: “This is another dispute that will be remembered in the history of the state. This is a bill for the creation of a bi-national state.” Both the leaders of the right and the left wanted to make this preliminary passing of a bill seem like a day for the history books.

If this is the first step in Israel’s long road to annexation – then the bill indeed should be taken seriously. For good or bad – whether one wants annexation or opposes it (my personal view here) – a decision that puts Israel on this path is historic, and significant.


Expanding the settlement of Ariel, built on Palestinian land deep in the West Bank, September 2010. Photo by Yin Dongxun/ Xinhua

But as I said, there’s also another way of looking at this bill – a way that isn’t as grave. Of course, if you choose this explanation you’ll end up thinking that Israel’s legislature is not the most serious body, and that Israel’s Knesset Members are not the most serious people. That should not come as huge surprise. Israel’s Knesset is no more serious and no less chaotic that the House of Representatives (it is somewhat less pompous than the Senate). And so, an analysis on the new legislative move as a mere spin is quite possible. And its rationale is as follows:

The Knesset has a need. It is a political need.

There is a party – The Jewish Home – that has to prove to its constituency (settlers and their supporters) that it is working hard to prevent the evacuation of the settlement of Amona, or at least make lemonade out of a sour evacuation. So the Jewish Home pretends it made history by passing legislation, even though it knows that this is temporary and fragile – the law might not pass in the next rounds, or it might not pass the legal bar, or might prove impossible to implement.

Moshe Kahlon broke from Likud to found the Kulanu party – which has no discernible differences with Likud

Photo by Abir Sultan, EPA

 

There is the Kulanu Party. The leader of Kulanu, minister Moshe Kahlon, vowed to protect the supreme court from legislation that will attempt to bypass a decision that the court has already made. So he settled for legislation that does not include such elements – and is still satisfying enough as to keep the coalition intact and enable him to pass a budget, his main concern as a Finance Minister.

There are the Haredi parties. They don’t really care. They want the coalition to survive and are willing to vote for this questionable bill for this purpose. In their defence, I would say that they probably don’t think this bill is of great significance, and see it mostly as a political show that doesn’t concern them.

The Likud Party is also supportive of the legislation. Why? Because it has little to lose and a lot to gain from it. In voting for it, they prove to the right that the Likud Party is as rightwing as the Jewish Home, their main competitor for rightwing votes. And what about the possible damage to Israel or to the rule of law? Well, that’s the purview of the Prime Minister (who opposes the law without saying as much, and is still looking for ways to supplement it with something else) or the court (always useful in saving Israel from itself).

The bottom line would be: everybody is happy. Even the opposition, which now has a new tool with which to hammer the government. And as for the new legislation – it can still be buried by the Knesset, or by the court. Or – it can prove to be historic. It is just too soon to say for sure.

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