Row over illegal West Bank settlement outpost splits Israeli cabinet

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
9 Feb 14:03

A dispute over an illegal settlement outpost in the occupied West Bank exposes the split in Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Israeli occupation PM Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a cabinet meeting in occupied Al-Quds on January 3, 2023 (AFP)

Cracks have emerged within Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government, with a row over the demolition of an illegal settlement outpost in the occupied West Bank testing the coalition.

Netanyahu vowed in December to expand illegal settlements across the West Bank, as he returned to power at the helm of the most right-wing Israeli government.

But a split over policy on the ground surfaced last month when Israeli occupation troops moved in to dismantle an outpost in the northern West Bank dubbed "Or Haim" on orders from Security Minister Yoav Gallant.

However, Israeli occupation Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir objected to its demolition.

"There won't be one law for the Arabs and another for the Jews... law is law!" Ben-Gvir, said, calling for the demolition of Palestinian construction in the largest part of the occupied West Bank.

Netanyahu backed Gallant over the outpost affair, claiming that settlements must be "coordinated in advance with the prime minister and security officials, which was not done in this case."

As a result, Smotrich boycotted a cabinet meeting in protest over the handling of the affair.

Israeli occupation soldiers returned to the "Or Haim" illegal outpost two days after the initial evacuation to expel settlers attempting to rebuild in the area.

All settlements in the occupied West Bank are deemed illegal under international law.

For Emmanuel Navon, a politics professor at "Tel Aviv" University, Smotrich's decision to skip the cabinet meeting was intended to "show his constituents that he cares about his agenda."

Navon suggested that Netanyahu will "focus on settlement expansion, not too much, not too little. He's always playing his game of equilibrium between international pressure and domestic pressure."

On Tuesday, several ministers in Netanyahu's extremist government, including Smotrich, expressed their rejection of US calls for halting the expansion of illegal settlements in Palestinian territories.

On Monday, sources reported that "Israel" announced it postponed the demolition of a building in the eastern part of occupied Al-Quds that houses 100 Palestinian families following calls from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to halt the expansion of illegal settlements.

The European Union had previously stated that it does not recognize Israeli occupation authority over the West Bank, noting that "Israel's" settlement expansion is a dangerous breach of international law.

However, a couple of days ago, Netanyahu's government issued an order to loot around 45 dunams of land in Beit Lahm in the central occupied West Bank to expand its illegal settlements on Palestinian land, local news agencies reported.