Likud MK Dan Illouz who has introduced the bill told Haaretz that “”Israel has to act according to its interests and without fear. This law is a major step towards full sovereignty (of the West Bank).”
Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation is set to approve a bill on Sunday that would allow the annexation of illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank around Jerusalem, in clear violation of international law and relevant UN resolutions.
The bill proposes the establishment of “metropolitan Jerusalem,” which would incorporate settlements such as Ma’ale Adumim, Givat Ze’ev, Efrat, and Ma’ale Mikhmas, the Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported on Friday.
#ANNEXATION IS #ISRAEL’S GOAL:
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.
– Haaretz https://t.co/tM15V5hxZz— Khalil Jahshan (@KhalilEJahshan) February 28, 2025
It noted that according to the bill, “The law, jurisdiction and administration of (Israel) will apply to the territory of the Jerusalem Metropolitan Area,” and also imposes 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.”
Likud MK Dan Illouz who has introduced the bill told Haaretz that “”Israel has to act according to its interests and without fear. This law is a major step towards full sovereignty (of the West Bank).”
‘Symbol of Jewish People’
According to the bill’s explanatory notes it would “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,’” Haaretz reported.
A non-governmental organization, Ir Amin, criticized the bill saying it “seeks to promote an illegal annexation under international law and is a gross breach of international law by Israel.”
Settlement Expansion Accelerates as Israel Plans over 1,100 New Housing Units
“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,” it said in an opinion, the paper noted.
Ir Amin also said that the move would be “another critical obstacle to a future diplomatic solution and an alternative prospect for the entire region.”
However, Illouz, who also proposed the legislation to shut down the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said the “time has come to enact sovereignty over the entire West Bank.”
Settlement Expansion
A report released by the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Negotiations Affairs Department revealed that 44.5 percent of the West Bank was now under Israeli control due to settlement expansion and land annexation, the Anadolu news agency reported on Wednesday.
44.5% of the West Bank Under Israeli Control as Settlements Expand – Report
The report, which includes a newly published map, highlights the rapid growth of illegal Israeli Jewish settlements, with five new settlements and 50 outposts established in 2024 alone.
It also states that the illegal settler population in the West Bank has tripled since 1995, reaching approximately 740,000 settlers.
(PC, Anadolu)
