Defying global outcry, Netanyahu says will legalize West Bank settlements if re-elected

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to authorize new illegal settlements in the West Bank if he were re-elected and formed a strong right-wing cabinet after the March 23 election.

“I swear to you: If I create a strong right-wing government without a rotation, I will take care of the settlements and the authorization of the young settlements [outposts],” Netanyahu said, according to the Jerusalem Post.

He made the remarks during a visit to the Givat Harel outpost in the West Bank’s Binyamin region, pointing to 160 illegal West Bank outposts, out of which 65 were constructed in the last eight years during Netanyahu’s tenure.

Netanyahu had already pledged support for the authorization of the outposts and backed an initiative for Israeli ministers to issue a declaration of intent to legalize the outposts before the fall of the cabinet. However, Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz kept the issue off the agenda.

Shrugging off global outcry, Israel moves to build 4,500 settler units

Emboldened by Donald Trump, Israel has stepped up its settlement construction activities.

The Israeli right-wing groups pushed to authorize the settlements prior to US President Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20, but they failed to take full advantage of the last days of the administration of the former president, Donald Trump, who had broken with decades of the United States’ bipartisan show by not opposing the settlements.

The Biden administration has voiced opposition to the Israeli regime’s settlement expansion, making it difficult for the regime to expand the illegal West Bank settlements, while rejecting calls to reverse Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital.”

The international community has repeatedly opposed Israel’s settlement activities, urging Biden in recent months to put pressure on Israel over the issue.

In remarks on Tuesday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh called on the Biden administration to make good on its opposition to Israel’s settlement expansion across the West Bank and take concrete measures to tackle the expansionism.

UN chief urges Israel to 'immediately halt all settlement activity'

The UN chief says Israeli settlement projects in the occupied West Bank pose a major obstacle to peace and solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Shtayyeh said the uptick in Israeli settlement construction activities amid the global coronavirus pandemic undermines international efforts to keep alive the prospect for the establishment of an independent State of Palestine.

Late last month, hundreds of European lawmakers sent a letter to foreign ministers in Europe, saying the Trump administration “left the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict farther away from peace than ever,” urging the Biden administration to make efforts to address the issue and halt the annexation of the West Bank.

Some 440,000 Israeli settlers live among more than three million Palestinians in the West Bank, in territories captured illegally by the Israeli regime.

While all Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, outposts are established regularly and even without Tel Aviv’s approval.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk