Bill on unauthorized outpost stirs debate in Israel

Israel's parliament voted on Wednesday in favor of a controversial bill to retroactively legalize the unauthorized Amona Jewish outpost, built on private Palestinian land in the West Bank.

The bill passed its first reading, out of four, in a 58-51 majority.

The Coalition chairman, David Bitan, hailed the vote as "one of the formidable feats of my lifetime."

Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights organization representing Palestinian land owners, said in a statement that the parliament "today abused its role of protecting human rights and the rule of law."

On Sunday, the Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs, chaired by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked of the pro-settler party of the Jewish Home, unanimously decided to proceed with the controversial bill.

The new legislation deals with an unauthorized outpost which settlers built east of Ramallah.

In 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that Amona was illegally built on private Palestinian land and had to be demolished by Dec. 25, 2016.

However, pro-settler legislators in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition have been pushing hard to find a legal loophole to retroactively legalize the outpost.

Under the new bill, the government will be capable of expropriating Palestinian land, so settlers will not have to be removed from the site.

Israel's attorney general previously declared that such a law would be unconstitutional.

Amona is the largest among the so-called "illegal outpost," communities built by far-right Israelis without government permits.

There are about 100 unauthorized outposts and 120 settlements which Israel considers legal.

Both outposts and settlements are illegal under international law as they were built on land occupied by Israel in the 1967 Mideast War. Endit