Israel settlement ruling sets new challenge for PM

Israel's high court Monday rejected a government bid to delay the evacuation of a wildcat Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, in a fresh challenge for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Amona outpost is under a court order to be evacuated by December 25 since it was built on private Palestinian land, but right-wingers in Netanyahu's cabinet have called for the around 40 families living there to be allowed to remain.

"The evacuation must occur before December 25," the high court said in its ruling. "The court rejects the delay requested by the state."

In what seemed to be a sharp criticism of the government, it said that "the duty to obey rulings is not a matter of choice.

"It is an essential component of the rule of law to which all are bound as part of the values of the state of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state."

Whether the Netanyahu government moves ahead with the demolition of Amona has been seen as a test case of whether it will heed international calls to halt settlement expansion in the West Bank.

The government, which had sought a seven-month delay while it considered where to move the Amona settlers, is seen as the most right-wing in Israel's history.

Key members of Netanyahu's coalition advocate settlement building while openly opposing the idea of a Palestinian state.

"We're aware of the duress of the Amona residents and are acting in different ways to solve the problem," Netanyahu told lawmakers from his Likud party on Monday.

Settlements are seen as a major stumbling blocks to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

Some 400,000 Israeli settlers now live in the West Bank, compared with about 2.6 million Palestinians.

The United States, the European Union and UN officials have warned that settlement building is eating away at the possibility of a two-state solution to the conflict.

Netanyahu is concerned that controversy over settlements could provoke an international backlash and possibly prompt US President Barack Obama to seek a Security Council resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before he leaves office on January 20.

- Threat to two-state solution -

Israel's high court ruled in 2014 that Amona, northeast of Ramallah in the central West Bank, must be evacuated.

There are concerns over how any evacuation will play out.

A committee of solidarity with the Amona settlers announced late Monday that "thousands" of supporters would be mobilised to block their evacuation.

In 2006, the demolition of nine permanent houses in the outpost led to clashes between settlers and Israeli forces.

With the Amona deadline in mind, a committee of Israeli ministers on Sunday approved a draft bill to legalise Jewish settlements built on private Palestinian land in communities that meet certain criteria.

The Palestinian landowners would be offered compensation in return for the land being seized.

The legislation is expected to apply to between 2,000 and 3,000 settler homes in the West Bank, which Israel seized in the 1967 Six Day War and which the Palestinians want for a future state of their own.

The bill must still be approved by Israel's Knesset, or parliament.

It had been pushed forward by Education Minister Naftali Bennett of the hardline Jewish Home party, days after he said the idea of a Palestinian state was over after Donald's Trump's election as US president.

Palestinian leaders denounced the bill and pledged to take the issue to the UN Security Council.

Palestinian foreign minister Riad al-Malki accused the Israeli government of seeking to "impose facts on the ground and create new realities by legalising the illegal actions that it commits".

The Palestinians also sharply criticised a separate bill that would limit the volume of calls to prayers at mosques in Israel and Jerusalem, a measure government watchdogs have called a threat to freedom of religion and a provocation.

"The recent Israeli measures are going to lead to catastrophe in the region," said Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

The international community considers all Israeli settlements in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem and the West Bank to be illegal, whether they are authorised by the government or not.

The Israeli government differentiates between those it has approved and those it has not.

Those like Amona are considered outposts as they have not been given Israeli government approval.

Source: AFP