JERUSALEM — Israel’s Supreme Court on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a 2017 law that would have allowed for the retroactive legalization of thousands of Jewish homes built on occupied West Bank land privately owned by Palestinians, a law so provocative that few believed when it was passed that it would survive judicial review.
Full Answer
Where are the settlements in Israel located?
Israeli settlements are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. Israeli settlements currently exist in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in the Syrian territory of the Golan Heights, ...
How many new settlement homes has Israel built?
^ Israel Approves Construction of 1,700 New Settlement Homes. Reuters, 3 November 2013 ^ Israel Plans 24,000 New Homes for Jewish Settlers. Reuters, 12 November 2013
When did Israel start building settlements in the West Bank?
As early as September 1967, Israeli settlement policy was progressively encouraged by the Labor government of Levi Eshkol. The basis for Israeli settlement in the West Bank became the Allon Plan, [50] [51] named after its inventor Yigal Allon.
Why does Israel spend so much money on the settlements?
Government spending per citizen in the settlements is double that spent per Israeli citizen in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, while government spending for settlers in isolated Israeli settlements is three times the Israeli national average. Most of the spending goes to the security of the Israeli citizens living there. [46]
How does Israeli settlement work?
Though formally a non-governmental organization, it is funded by the Israeli government and leases lands from the Civil Administration to settle in the West Bank. It is authorized to create settlements in the West Bank on lands licensed to it by the Civil Administration.
What is the problem with Israeli settlements?
The settlements have a lot of security measures including Jewish-only roads and restrictions that split up Palestinian territory, often making it difficult for people to get to work, visit family or even go to the hospital when they are sick.
Is Israel building illegal settlements?
Israel advanced plans for the construction of more than 4,000 homes in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, a rights group has said, a day after the Israeli army demolished homes in an area where hundreds of Palestinians face the threat of expulsion.
Why is Israel building settlements in the West Bank?
Settlements are communities of Jews that have been moving to the West Bank since it came under Israeli occupation in 1967. Some of the settlers move there for religious reasons, some because they want to claim the West Bank territory as Israeli land, and some because the housing there tends to be cheap and subsidized.
Has Israel stolen land?
Israel has declared at least 26 percent of the West Bank as “state land”. Using a different interpretation of Ottoman, British and Jordanian laws, Israel stole public and private Palestinian land for settlements under the pretext of “state land”.
Why are Israeli settlements legal?
Israel has justified its civilian settlements by stating that a temporary use of land and buildings for various purposes appears permissible under a plea of military necessity and that the settlements fulfilled security needs.
Does Israel have a right to the West Bank?
Israel claims historical and religious rights to the West Bank as the ancestral land of the Jewish people. It also says its presence there - especially in the Jordan Valley - is strategically vital for its self-defence.
What human rights has Israel violated?
Israel's continued policies and practices had resulted in flagrant human rights violations and abuses, including brutalisation of children, torture, forcible transfers, and colonisation of land.
How many UN rules has Israel violated?
SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS: Laws Violated: Israel has violated 28 resolutions of the United Nations Security Council (which are legally binding on member-nations U.N.
Who owned the West Bank before Israel?
West Bank, Arabic Al-Ḍaffah al-Gharbiyyah, Hebrew Ha-Gadah Ha-Maʿaravit, area of the former British-mandated (1920–47) territory of Palestine west of the Jordan River, claimed from 1949 to 1988 as part of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan but occupied from 1967 by Israel.
Is it ethical to move to Israel?
Despite this polarity, travel to Israel can be ethical, but it is important to be fully aware of the situation there, to balance your trip with a visit to the Palestinian territories, and to ensure that your visit doesn't support the Israeli state but rather local communities and small businesses.
Does Israel occupy Palestinian land?
Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967 and has since maintained control. In 1980, Israel officially absorbed East Jerusalem and proclaimed the whole of the city to be its capital....Palestinian territories.Palestinian territories الأراضي الفلسطينية al-Arāḍī al-FilasṭīniyyaHDI (2010)0.645 medium · 97th24 more rows
What is the issue with the Israeli settlements in the West Bank?
Israeli settlement of the West Bank has generally been considered illegal and illegitimate by the international community due to the Fourth Geneva Convention banning the transfer of civilian populations to militarily occupied territories.
What happened to Israeli settlements in Gaza?
The Israeli disengagement from Gaza (Hebrew: תוכנית ההתנתקות, Tokhnit HaHitnatkut) was the unilateral dismantling in 2005 of the 21 Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and the evacuation of Israeli settlers and army from inside the Gaza Strip.
Is it ethical to move to Israel?
Despite this polarity, travel to Israel can be ethical, but it is important to be fully aware of the situation there, to balance your trip with a visit to the Palestinian territories, and to ensure that your visit doesn't support the Israeli state but rather local communities and small businesses.
What are the historical causes of the conflict between Israel and Palestine?
The history of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict began with the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. This conflict came from the intercommunal violence in Mandatory Palestine between Arabs and Jews from 1920, and erupted into full-scale hostilities in the 1947–48 civil war.
Israel To Build 3,000 Homes for Jewish Settlers Despite Biden Govt's Criticism
Israel went ahead with its plans in occupied West Bank to construct approximately 3,000 houses for Jewish settlers, Reuters reported on Thursday, 28 October.
Israel Grants Residency to 4,000 Undocumented Palestinians in the West Bank
A senior official of the Palestinian Authority lamented that the settlement policy of Israel's new coalition government showed the same signs of hostility towards Palestinians compared to former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
Who opposes Israeli settlements?
The Palestinian Authority (PA) will be keenly watching for a response from US President Joe Biden’s administration, which has said it opposes unilateral Israeli settlement construction as an obstacle to a two-state solution to the conflict.
How many homes were seized in the West Bank?
The announcement on Sunday from the Ministry of Construction and Housing in right-wing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s government said tenders had been published for 1,355 homes in the occupied West Bank, which was seized by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War.
What did the European Union call Israel to do?
The European Union on Monday called on Israel to halt the planned construction.
Who said the US was concerned about housing?
On Friday, State Department spokesman Ned Price said the US was “concerned” about the housing plans. He called on Israel and the Palestinians to “refrain from unilateral steps that exacerbate tension and undercut efforts to advance a negotiated two-state solution”.
Who replaced Benjamin Netanyahu?
Anti-occupation group Peace Now said Sunday’s announcement proved that Bennett’s ideologically diverse coalition, which replaced former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pro-settlement government in June, was not “a government of change”.
Where is the illegal settlement in Israel?
Israel on Wednesday approved the construction of hundreds of illegal settlement units in occupied East Jerusalem, a first since US President Joe Biden took office in January.
What is the Israeli plan for the West Bank?
The Israeli government plan, known as E1 , involves building hundreds of units to link the settlements of Kfar Adumim and Maale Adumim with East Jerusalem in the Israeli-controlled Area C of the West Bank.
Is it illegal to build a settlement in the Palestinian territories?
Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law, and have previously been criticised by Biden as "eroding" prospects of a two-state solution. Israel's Jerusalem municipality said on Wednesday that the local planning and building committee had approved the construction in Har Homa, ...
How many Palestinians live in the West Bank?
Israel has occupied the West Bank since the Six-Day War of 1967 and exercises full administrative control across much of the territory, where more than two million Palestinians live.
Will Israel build more homes for Jewish settlers?
Israel plans to build more residences for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, a government ministry said on Sunday, adding to those announced in August by the new ruling coalition.
Threat to 2-state solution
Peace Now, a leftist Israeli group that opposes settlements, sees the recent government moves to expand housing units in the West Bank as a real and significant threat to the two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Trump's take on settlements
The Obama Administration had been, at times, critical of Israeli settlement expansion. Some in Netanyahu's right-wing coalition government had hoped for a green light for new construction after Donald Trump was sworn in.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Derek Stoffel is a former Middle East correspondent, who covered the Arab Spring uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya and reported from Syria during the ongoing civil war. Based in Jerusalem for many years, he covered the Israeli and Palestinian conflict.
How many Israelis live in West Bank settlements?
They say settlement construction could deny them a viable and contiguous country. Some 550,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements and East Jerusalem, areas that are home to more than 2.6 million Palestinians. Three weeks ago, Israel’s parliament retroactively legalized about 4,000 settler homes built on privately owned Palestinian land.
Why did the new law not apply to Amona?
The new law did not apply to Amona or the nine dwellings in Ofra because of standing court rulings. Since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January, Israel has announced plans to build 6,000 more settler homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
How many people protested against the removal of Amona?
More than 100 youngsters had protested against the removal of Amona’s 300 settlers. Some 60 officers and at least four demonstrators were hurt in scuffles there that included bleach being thrown at police. Most countries consider all Israeli settlements on land occupied in the 1967 Middle East war to be illegal.
Does Israel remove settlers from Palestinian land?
Israel removes settlers from homes on private Palestinian land. OFRA, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli police began removing settlers and hundreds of supporters on Tuesday from nine houses built illegally on privately owned Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.