Minister warns that legitimising settlements will lead to international isolation of Israel

Israel’s Minister of Public Works, Michael Eitan, has warned his government that the consequence of legitimising settlements on private Palestinian land will be the “isolation of Israel internationally”. Eitan’s comments came after the Chairman of the Board of Settlements in the occupied West Bank, Danny Dayan, said that it has become necessary to enact a special law which legitimises such currently illegal settlement “outposts”.

According to Dayan, failure to do so puts those who vote against the move “into the driving seat of a bulldozer demolishing homes in Givat Haolbana”, one of the illegal settlements in question.

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In response, Eitan said that Israel cannot apply its own laws in “Judea and Samaria” (known to the rest of the world as the occupied West Bank) which would affect Palestinians who are not citizens of the state. The Likud minister added that the adoption of such a law would not be in Israel’s favour, as opponents will regard it as “racist” in nature.