Israeli settlement law a means to ‘legalise theft’?

Qatar has added its voice to the growing chorus of global condemnation of the new Israeli law that seeks to legalise Jewish settlements on privately owned Palestinian land in West Bank.The law is extremely controversial, a clear violation of international law and brazen breach of UN Security Council resolutions.Voicing its condemnation, the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that the Israeli Knesset’s adoption of settlement legislation law is a flagrant violation of international resolutions, especially UN Security Council Resolution 2334, and a blatant attack on the right of the Palestinian people.The ‘Regularisation’ bill, which was passed by the Knesset on February 6, is expected to be legally challenged. Some Israeli officials expect the law, which would protect settlers against eviction from outposts built on private Palestinian lands, to be struck down by the Supreme Court.  Although bill seeks to compensate Palestinian owners financially or with other land, it is viewed by them as a means to “legalise theft”.The bill has not only elicited worldwide opprobrium but also opposition from Israelis.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he “deeply regrets” the adoption of the bill which many governments worldwide see as the latest bid to erode the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The UN Middle East peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov said the bill crossed a “thick red line” towards annexation of the West Bank. “(The law) opens the potential for the full annexation of the West Bank and therefore undermines substantially the two-state solution,” he said.France called the bill a “new attack on the two-state solution”, while Britain said it “damages Israel’s standing with its international partners”.The Arab League accused Israel of “stealing the land and appropriating the property of Palestinians” and the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) expressed “absolute rejection and strong condemnation” of the law.Secretary-General of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) Executive Committee Saeb Erekat said that Israel’s illegal settlement and expansion policy undermine any prospects for peace and the two-state solution, and represent a war crime and a clear violation of international laws. “It’s about theft of land and natural resources,” he said.Echoing Erekat’s views, in Israel, the director of external relations for Peace Now, an anti-settlement group, Anat Ben Nun, said: “The new law is “deteriorating Israel’s democracy, making stealing an official policy”.The bill has been so contentious that even Israel’s attorney general has described it as unconstitutional and in contravention of international law.Only the Trump administration in the United States has refused to comment, in stark contrast to the criticism of settlements repeatedly voiced under former president Barack Obama. Clearly, with the adoption of the new settlement law Israel’s policy has shifted from occupation to annexation and unless the international community enforces the Security Council resolutions and compels Tel Aviv to halt its settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, all efforts made so far towards the two-state solution will come a cropper.