October 11, 2011
Bibi wants task force on legalizing West Bank Jewish homes
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Jewish youth hold Israeli flags at the beginning of a rally march in the West Bank settlement of Itamar, near Nablus on Sept. 20. Photo by REUTERS/Nir Elias
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the creation of a task force to find ways to legalize West Bank homes built on private Palestinian land.
The Israeli leader’s instruction to Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman came Monday, according to Haaretz, in the wake of a letter from 38 lawmakers from several political parties and five government ministers calling on Netanyahu not to destroy Jewish homes built on the Palestinian-owned land.
Under a court order, several outposts built on Palestinian-owned land housing some 1,000 residents are scheduled to be demolished following the Sukkot holiday.
Lawmakers have been pressed to find a solution besides demolishing Jewish homes in the West Bank since the razing of three permanent homes last month in the Migron outpost.
Price tag attacks in recent weeks on West Bank mosques and Arab sacred sites have referenced the Migron demolitions. Price tag refers to the strategy that extreme rightist Israelis have adopted to exact retribution against Palestinians for settlement freezes and demolitions, or for Palestinian attacks on Jews.
