Israeli Public Prosecutor Avichai Mandelblit announced on Wednesday that confiscating privately-owned Palestinian land for settlements is “legal,” Israeli Ynet News reported.
Mandelblit’s decision came less than a year after he announced that he would not defend the Regulation Bill to legalise Israeli government-backed settlements in the occupied West Bank.
He gave his revised opinion following a demand from the extremist right wing Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked during discussions the use of privately-owned Palestinian land to pave a road connecting the illegal Harsh settlement with others built in the occupied territories.
A statement released by Shaked after the decision praised Mandelblit. “The justice minister welcomes this decision that constitutes another stage in the implementation of the rights of hundreds of thousands of residents of settlements,” the statement read.
“She will continue to promote a re-examination of previous legal positions on the regulation of construction in the occupied West Bank,” the statement added.
In February, Israeli MKs voted 60-52 in favour of the Regulation Bill to regulate the status of thousands of housing units in the illegal settlements located on land privately owned by Palestinians.
Shortlink for this post: https://daysofpalestine.ps/?p=3447
