Ministers set up task force to ease West Bank settlement construction
Task force, to determine ownership of West Bank lands, established following request by settlers.
By Mazal Mualem Tags: Israel news Israel settlers West Bank PalestiniansThe defense and interior ministers agreed on Monday to appoint a task force to facilitate construction in the West Bank.
A similar team, which was responsible for establishing the ownership of West Bank lands, operated until about three years ago under the auspices of the Israel Defense Forces' Civil Administration. Officials say the team's work is essential to issuing building permits in the West Bank.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Interior Minister Eli Yishai made the decision at the request of West Bank settlement leaders. The task force will consist of a geographer, a jurist and archivists.
The two also agreed to give the team a NIS 3 million budget for the coming year, to be financed by the Interior Ministry and other ministries.
Establishing the lands' ownership is intended to ensure that construction is carried out on land owned by Jews and not Palestinians, officials said.
Since the previous task force stopped working, dozens of construction plans, including those for kindergartens, yeshivas and other public structures, have been held up. Permits were issued only in special cases, and only when former prime minister Ehud Olmert intervened.
Shaul Goldstein, who heads the Gush Etzion Regional Council, said the cessation of the team's work prevented construction in the West Bank even when land was definitely owned by Jews. For example, the construction of a yeshiva high school in Kfar Etzion was held up.
"The state is harming itself by its stupidity," he said. "Jewish councils in the West Bank, which abide by the law, are obviously harmed by it as well."
Defense Ministry sources said that resuming the team's work has no political significance, and that ultimately, government policy will determine whether construction permits are granted.
Interior Ministry sources said the task force was meant to remove bureaucratic obstacles.
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but occupied, and Israel needs to withdraw from it.
Wonder what Mitchell's response to this will be. Obama seems to be caught like a deer in the headlights. Wasnt Barak saying just a few weeks ago that the 23 illegal outposts would be coming down, you know, the ones that should have been down over 2 yrs ago. Well, they're tlking here about "Jewish" owned land. No clarification needed but we might ask "Jewish" owned when? 2,000 yrs ago, maybe? Isnt it amazing what Isral can get away by not being held accountable to international law?
Land ownership is a function of both governmental sanction and personal ownership. Settlers took WB land without legitimacy in either sense. For example, in 1948, Israel gained governmental sanction in Israel proper, but violated the private ownership rights of Pal refugees. Its citizens should certainly not be granted greater rights than those refugees. As to personal ownership: You cannot move into a region, make life miserable and deadly for its inhabitants and then use their understandable desire to get away from the environment you created to "buy" their land. All such "sales" are inherently coercive and should be respected by no legal authority. Moreover, colonization of occupied land is a flagrant violation of human rights and the Geneva Conventions. Thus, all persons settled in such colonies under the auspices of the Israeli government lack legitimate governmental sanction and should be removed to enforce international law.
The state is harming itself by issueing these papers, by not respecting international law. The west bank settlements will be the short-term survival of Israel and it's long-term demise.