A parliamentary bill has been submitted for consideration by Israel’s Ministerial Committee on Legislation which, if approved, would give the Knesset control over settlement freezes. At the moment, such decisions are taken by the government.
According to Israeli radio reports, the bill is the response to a request from Likud Party Knesset members and the National Union bloc of parliamentarians. The aim of the bill, it is claimed, is to block an extension of the government-imposed freeze on building settlements across the West Bank, which is due to expire in September.
Critics have noted that the so-called freeze is nothing of the sort, with settlement construction continuing in occupied East Jerusalem, which the Israelis do not recognise as part of the West Bank.