Right Wing Lawmakers Seek to Legalize Largest West Bank Outpost

[Israeli]

Habayit Hayehudi to push a bill that would allow the expropriation of private Palestinian land on which outposts have been illegally built.

Jonathan Lis Jul 17, 2016

Habayit Hayehudi will attempt on Sunday to advance a bill regulating the expropriation of private Palestinian land in West Bank settlements, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opposition to such a bill.

The proposed law is intended to legitimize the Amona outpost, which was built illegally on private Palestinian land, and must be evacuated by December by order of the High Court of Justice.

Netanyahu has scuttled several previous attempts to pass such a bill, which enjoys strong support among Likud ministers.
Netanyahu recently appealed to Likud members, asking them to propose other ways of legitimizing the Amona, which is the largest outpost in the West Bank. A senior Likud official believes that if no solution is found and the outpost is moved, the coalition may fall apart.

The bill was resubmitted in June by Habayit Hayehudi whip MK Shuli Moalem, and will be brought to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, along with an identical proposal by Likud MK Yoav Kish. Netanyahu blocked and criticized a similar bill three years ago. “We respect the rule of law, yet strengthen the settlements, with no contradiction between the two,” he stated. “This bill will achieve the opposite, leading to evacuation of the outpost and harming the settlement enterprise.”

read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.731369