MKs urge legalisation of settlement outpost

Two dozen Israeli ministers and parliamentarians from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party signed a petition over the weekend calling for the legalisation of settlement outpost Amona.

The settlement homes in question were built on privately-owned Palestinian land and are scheduled for demolition.

The petition was started by pro-settler activists and was signed by 25 of Likud’s 30 members of the Knesset on Saturday, nine of whom are ministers.

The only five not to sign the petition were Benny Begin, Avi Dichter, Anat Berko, Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, and Netanyahu himself.

A proposed “regulation bill” “seeks to retroactively legalise any Jewish structures built on privately-owned Palestinian lands – as long as they were built with no intention of breaking the law – while offering generous compensation to those who prove they are the lands’ owners.”

However, the Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit believes the bill in its current form is unconstitutional.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, both from the Jewish Home party, told Israeli television “that the bill would not be able to prevent the evacuation and demolition of the Amona outpost.”

Instead, the report stated, “the lawmakers will push through another legislative measure meant to allow residents of Amona to rebuild nearby.”