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Jun 6, 2012
The Problem With The New Committee To Deal With Settlement Construction
I only have one problem with the new arrangement upon which the Settlement Regulation Bill was knocked down.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu opposed the bill and insisted all his partners do as well, claiming that the Supreme Court cannot be opposed. In it's place, in what he said will follow the law but also strengthen the settlement community, he will build 300 units elsewhere in Beit El (military property, yadda yadda yadda), and will also create a new committee that will deal with construction in settlements that will bypass the Defense Minister (Ehud Barak). And, he himself, Netanyahu, will head the new committee.
This new committee sounds like a great idea. My only problem with it is that it is going to be led by Netanyahu. I can see an environment in which he will never (not including throwing a few small bones to the settlers initially) approve new settlements or new housing/construction in existing settlements using the excuse of the International Community not accepting the idea, or any of the diplomatic issues.
If he created this apparatus by which to circumvent the current Defense Minister, who is a declared leftist in regards to settlement construction, the apparatus should be led by somebody who will be more inclined to approving new housing plans - even if not every plan, but at least his, or her, method and inclination should be towards approval. Otherwise he might as well just leave it in the hands of Barak the way it is now.
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PM Benjamin Netanyahu opposed the bill and insisted all his partners do as well, claiming that the Supreme Court cannot be opposed. In it's place, in what he said will follow the law but also strengthen the settlement community, he will build 300 units elsewhere in Beit El (military property, yadda yadda yadda), and will also create a new committee that will deal with construction in settlements that will bypass the Defense Minister (Ehud Barak). And, he himself, Netanyahu, will head the new committee.
This new committee sounds like a great idea. My only problem with it is that it is going to be led by Netanyahu. I can see an environment in which he will never (not including throwing a few small bones to the settlers initially) approve new settlements or new housing/construction in existing settlements using the excuse of the International Community not accepting the idea, or any of the diplomatic issues.
If he created this apparatus by which to circumvent the current Defense Minister, who is a declared leftist in regards to settlement construction, the apparatus should be led by somebody who will be more inclined to approving new housing plans - even if not every plan, but at least his, or her, method and inclination should be towards approval. Otherwise he might as well just leave it in the hands of Barak the way it is now.
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Labels:
Netanyahu,
settlements
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How many new construction projects shas tarted since the Obama/Bibi Freeze?
ReplyDeleteThe PM opposed this law for a lot more reason than that "the Supreme Court cannot be opposed." He opposed the law because it would undo a specific Supreme Court decision retroactively, which is a lot different and more problematic than simply legislating to correct the way the court interprets a particular law or regulation, for application in future cases. He also opposed the law because it would probably place Israel in violation of international law, and because (if I understand the issue correctly) Israeli civil law does not even apply in the disputed territories, which would mean that the Knesset does not have jurisdiction to legislate for the territories. Any of all of these legal issues might very well have been enough to warrant nullification of this law by the Supreme Court, even if the Knesset had passed it. Which would mean that the state of Israel would have suffered damage to its international position for no good purpose whatsoever. The fact that the PM acted like a responsible leader by taking these real issues into account therefore should not be taken to mean that he is not in sympathy with further settlement.
ReplyDeleteIf people need a villain for this story, the true villain is not the Supreme Court or the PM, but rather, whoever failed to properly check the land titles before building this neighborhood. But a legal malpractice suit makes a lot less headlines and political fodder than demonstrations against the court and the PM.
Just as a quick PS to my comment, I'd also add Peace Now as villains of this story, for bringing this action in court out of what seems to me like sheer spite and hatred, and as a result, causing damage to the state for no good reason. I certainly do hope the PM makes good on his promise to build many more houses to replace the houses in question, so that these hateful people will think twice the next time they bring such a petition to the court.
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