Likud calls for Israeli law in occupied West Bank

Some 800 members of Israel’s Likud party have called for a general meeting to approve a proposal to implement Israeli law in Jewish settlements across the occupied West Bank, Quds Press reported on Monday. The Central Committee of Likud, the party headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is expected to call for free building in the settlements, all of which are regarded as illegal under international law.

One Israeli news website said that the Head of the Committee, Haim Katz, is likely to object to holding such a meeting, fearing that it would cause “political embarrassment” for Netanyahu. According to Quds Press, decisions taken by the Likud Central Committee are mandatory for the party’s representative in parliament as well as the government under Netanyahu.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian expert in Israeli affairs has revealed that 37 Israeli laws supporting Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are among the 136 proposed for the Knesset to consider this year. Barhoum Jaraysi noted that 36 of them call for the imposition of full Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank or the illegal settlements.

“The current Israeli ruling gang will not approve laws that call for imposing direct sovereignty over the West Bank because this means imposing sovereignty over Palestinian Authority-controlled areas,” explained Jaraysi, who lives in Nazareth. He pointed out that Israel does not need additional laws in any case because it is already imposing its laws in the illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

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Jaraysi added that annexation laws are accepted widely by Israeli MKs. The only differences of opinion are with regard to the places which are to be annexed.

Given the number of such proposed laws, he said, it is impossible to resume peace talks. “There will not be talks because the US administration under Donald Trump and his staff is part of the gang of Israeli right-wing and terrorist settlers and they will not push Israel to talk.”