'Major Step to Full Sovereignty': Bill to Annex West Bank Settlements Near Jerusalem Set to Pass - Israel News - Haaretz.com
Israel's Ministerial Committee for Legislation is expected to approve on Sunday a bill that will enable the annexation of West Bank settlements around Jerusalem.
The bill, introduced by Likud MK Dan Illouz, proposes establishing "metropolitan Jerusalem," which will include settlements around the capital such as Ma'ale Adumim, Givat Ze'ev, Efrat, and Ma'ale Mikhmas.
The bill says that "The law, jurisdiction and administration of [Israel] will apply to the territory of the Jerusalem Metropolitan Area." It also prescribes that Jerusalem's mayor will be the metropolitan area leader and that the heads of the local settlements will be the directors of the various municipal authorities.
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Illouz told Haaretz that the bill "enables large-scale metropolitan planning around Jerusalem, strengthens the capital, and eases the management of infrastructure connecting the settlements that encircle it."
But Illouz added that the bill has a larger underlying principle: enacting Israeli sovereignty over the entire West Bank. "Israel has to act according to its interests and without fear. This law is a major step towards full sovereignty [of the West Bank]."
The bill also prescribes that the government will work with the authority to increase land reserves for construction in the metropolitan area to encourage the residence of young people, investment in public transportation, education, cultural institutions and so forth.
The bill's explanatory notes say that Jerusalem's status has weakened in recent years and there has been negative migration from the city limits. The bill will restore the city's status as "the symbol and the heart of the Jewish people, and will mobilize the best parties in Israel and world Jewry to strengthen Jerusalem."
It further says that the bill will enable settlements around Jerusalem to remain autonomous, while increasing Jerusalem's population, maintaining a Jewish majority ("demographic balance") and adding "many areas that will make possible residential, commercial, touristic and recreational construction."
An opinion written by non-governmental organization Ir Amim says that "The bill seeks to promote an illegal annexation under international law and is a gross breach of international law by Israel."
"Annexing West Bank settlements under the bill will divide the West Bank, sever the current critical territorial continuity between Bethlehem-Hebron and the Ramallah-Nablus areas, and further isolate East Jerusalem and its residents from the Palestinian space."
Jerusalem, last year.Credit: Noam Revkin-Fenton
The organization added that the annexation "will be another critical obstacle to a future diplomatic solution and an alternative prospect for the entire region."
However, Illouz believes that Israel must push forward with the bill despite potential international repercussions.
"When I initiated the law to shut down UNRWA, [Israel] was threatened by international pressures. We stood strong and the bill was ratified without real consequences, only empty threats. Such will be the case for enacting sovereignty. When Israel refuses to back down, it becomes stronger. The time has come to enact sovereignty over the entire West Bank."
But beyond a diplomatic solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, the bill can have immediate socio-economic consequences as well.
"In addition to the diplomatic repercussions, even now, and despite existing legislation that requires specific budgets to be provided to the city, Jerusalem has been the poorest city for years," Ir Amim said.
"The current bill will further burden thousands of people in the city, which is already overcrowded and dense, and will result in further sweeping damage to its shaky economic and social status."
The organization added that the bill "seeks to weaken and further displace Jerusalem's Palestinian population by forcing an artificial Jewish demographic majority at the cost of the organic fabric of the city and the rights of all its people."