An Israeli ministerial committee on Sunday defied Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and voted to support a bill to allow
settlers in the occupied West Bank to remain in homes built on
privately owned Palestinian land.
Israel's Supreme Court had ruled the government must evacuate a
few dozen families from the Amona settlement and return the land to
its Palestinian owners but right-wing lawmakers want to pay them
compensation instead and allow the settlers to stay.
The government has sought an extension for the end-of-year
evacuation so it can find somewhere else for settlers to live, but
the lawmakers who support the settlers' wish to remain, presented
the bill to try to circumvent the ruling.
Israel's attorney-general, Avihai Mandelblit, said in a
statement that the bill was legally flawed in its current form as
it contravened private property rights legislation and did not
tally with Israel's international law commitments.
"The attorney-general told the committee that the bill does not
sit with the basic principles of the rule of law as it contradicts
the position that the state must respect the judiciary's decisions
in individual cases," Mandelblit said.
Israel has occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the
1967 Middle East war. Palestinians want those territories along
with the Gaza Strip for a state but peace talks have stalled since
2014.
The Palestinians see Israeli settlements as a major obstacle to
reaching a peace agreement and want them dismantled.
Netanyahu had insisted on delaying any political move and told
his cabinet on Sunday to allow the new administration of U.S.
President-elect Donald Trump to take over in Washington before
setting future policy.
Netanyahu last week expressed confidence that he and Trump could
work together to bring U.S.-Israeli relations to "new heights".
The administration of President Barack Obama has been highly
critical of Israel's settlement policies.
But Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister
Ayelet Shaked from the ultra-nationalist Jewish Home party,
partners in Netanyahu's right-wing coalition, ignored his call to
postpone the vote.
Following authorization of the private members' bill in
committee, it now heads to parliament on Wednesday where it will be
debated but it is still some distance from becoming law.
The committee also voted to support a bill to enforce lowering
the volume of loudspeakers in mosques calling worshippers to prayer
which Arab-Israeli lawmakers described as racist.
Netanyahu said the bill would improve the quality of life for
all Israelis, who he said had complained to him about "excessive
noise coming from houses of worship."
Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas, said that enacting both laws would force the Palestinians to
appeal to international bodies.