Netanyahu: I hope to resolve West Bank settler outpost issues within days

• Published date: 17 January 2021
• Author: TOVAH LAZAROFF
• Date: 17 January 2021

At issue is whether Israel would make a major policy declaration in favor of expanding its settlement footprint in Area C of the West Bank on the eve of US President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration on Wednesday of this week.

"We are currently in discussions with the Defense Ministry about the young settlements [outposts]," Netanyahu said at the government meeting, typically held weekly. It has not met in close to a month due to sharp disagreements between Netanyahu and Alternative Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

Among them is Gantz's objection to a governmental declaration of intent to legalize the outposts. Netanyahu spoke of the Defense Ministry, but not Gantz, when he described talks on the outposts.

"I very much hope we can reach an agreement in the next day or two. The [matter] must be resolved," Netanyahu said. "There is no justification for this and it causes unnecessary suffering."

"This is a humanitarian issue," said Netanyahu, adding that these people "do not have [regulated] electricity and water."

But he did explicitly mention the declaration of intent, which has already been written out by Community Affairs Minister Tzachi Hanegbi and needs only to be placed on the agenda.

The declaration would not immediately authorize the 46 fledgling settlement communities, some of which have existed for more than two decades. But it would allow for them to be treated in a de facto manner as if they have been legalized.

At present, it is difficult to provide them with regulated utilities and security services because they are deemed to be illegal, rather than communities in the process of authorization.

In some cases, authorization would include expanding the boundary lines of existing settlements, as the outposts would be legalized as new neighborhoods of those communities.

In other instances, they would be legalized as entirely new settlements.

Both moves would expand the area of settlement building in Area C the West Bank, beyond the 30% laid out in US President Donald Trump's map of a two-state solution, by which Israel can eventually annex the West Bank settlements.

In lieu of annexation, right-wing politicians and the settlement movement had seized on the issue of the issue of the outposts as a critical one in this juncture...