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Israel advances bill to ease land purchases for settlers in occupied West Bank

January 28, 2025 at 3:17 pm

A group of Jewish settlers under the protection of Israeli soldiers raids the Old City area of Hebron, West Bank on September 14, 2024 [Mamoun Wazwaz/Anadolu Agency]

The Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill on Sunday aimed at easing land purchases for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Under current regulations, Israeli settlers are prohibited from directly purchasing land and can only acquire property through companies registered with the Israeli Civil Administration.

According to Haaretz, the proposed legislation seeks to remove these restrictions and formally repeal a Jordanian-era statute that prohibits the leasing or sale of real estate to individuals who are not Jordanian, Palestinian, or of Arab descent.

Israeli settlers have long called for changes to this law, with the Israeli non-profit Regavim, even filing a petition to the High Court of Justice, which was ultimately rejected.

MK Moshe Solomon from the Religious Zionism Party, who introduced the bill, claimed: “The law is intended to restore normalcy to the State of Israel – a Jewish state that has allowed racist discrimination against Jews to persist since the British Mandate.”

Israeli ministers approved the bill’s advancement with a condition including further legislative steps that will require coordination with the Prime Minister’s Office, the Defence Ministry and the Defence Minister’s approval.

According to Haaretz, the proposed legislation contains only two key provisions. The first repeals the Jordanian law in question, while the second asserts “Any individual may purchase property rights in the Judea and Samaria region,” in reference to the occupied West Bank.

In response, the Israeli rights group Peace Now expressed strong opposition to the proposed legislation, formally titled the “Elimination of the Discrimination in the Purchase of Real Estate in Judea and Samaria.”

It warned that the law would “open the door to questionable deals and forgeries” and would “give a small number of extremist settlers the ability to acquire land and later establish settlements, whether in the heart of Hebron or anywhere else.”

The group further emphasised the legal implications of the bill, stating: “The Knesset has no authority to legislate laws for areas that are not under Israeli sovereignty, and the attempt to apply Knesset laws to the occupied territory constitutes annexation and a blatant violation of international law.”

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