Knesset members from Habayit Hayehudi and Likud (government coalition parties) on Wednesday tabled a bill that would legalize Jewish outposts built on privately owned Palestinian land in the West Bank.
According to Haaretz “It is still not clear whether the bill will receive the support of attorney general Avichai Mandelblit who ruled that a previous bill on the subject was unconstitutional and would not stand up to the scrutiny of the high court of justice.”
The new draft law distinguishes between ownership of land and the right to utilize land. It aims to enable the Israeli government to give itself the right to use private Palestinian land without taking ownership of it.
Moreover if the bill was passed it would only apply to illegal outposts that the government was involved in establishing such as the highly contentious outpost of Amona whose residents face a high court eviction order which must be enforced by December 25.
