West Bank settlements are legal under international law, according to an Israeli committee set up to review the legal status of West Bank land.
A government-appointed committee on Monday proposed granting official status to dozens of unauthorized settler outposts in the West Bank, challenging the world view that Israeli settlement there is illegal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will submit a plan to legalize several West Bank outposts and avoid the demolition of another.
Israel\’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman threatened to bring down the Netanyahu government if it orders the demolition of two West Bank outposts.
Two illegal West Bank outposts set to be evacuated by the end of the year have a reprieve.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised the hackles of many members of his coalition when he said that illegal outposts must be razed.
Israel\’s Cabinet has ordered the demolition of all illegal West Bank outposts built on private Palestinian land by the end of the year. Monday\’s decision, echoing one announced earlier this month, comes in response to a petition submitted by Peace Now to the Supreme Court calling for the demolition of six outposts: Ramat Gilad, Mitzpe Yitzhar, Givat Har\’eh, Givat Asaf, Ma\’aleh Rehavam and Mitzpeh Lachish.
Migron, the largest and most established of the 100 or so illegal Jewish outposts set up across the West Bank, is on the front lines of a looming showdown between the settler movement and the Israeli government. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon recently pledged to dismantle such settlements in accordance with the U.S.-led \”road map\” peace plan.
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