Israel wants to expand illegal settlements in the West Bank
Rights — di Andrea Barolini
Despite having been declared illegal by the United Nations, Israel's new far-right government is pushing to expand the settlements.
Israel wants to expand illegal settlements in the West Bank
Despite having been declared illegal by the United Nations, Israel's new far-right government is pushing to expand the settlements.
From Thursday 29 November Benyamin Netanyahu is once again head of the Israeli government. This is the 37th executive in the history of the Jewish nation, and it is considered the most right-wing ever, raising serious concerns above all over policies related to the Palestinian question.
Netanyahu takes charge of a far-right cabinet that says it will prioritise illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and pursue other anti-Palestinian policies.
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More settlements and greater use of force in the Israeli government's programme
Netanyahu has in fact presented to the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, the policy guidelines of his government. And he has placed great emphasis on the choice to expand the settlements in the occupied West Bank. Despite the fact that these were long ago declared illegal by the United Nations.
"The Jewish people have an exclusive and inalienable right over every part of the Land of Israel. The government will encourage and develop settlement in Galilee, the Golan, Judea, the Negev and the West Bank," confirmed the Likud, Netanyahu's liberal nationalist party, which won the last elections in coalition with ultra-Orthodox and far-right formations, in a statement.
Netanyahu's allies want the annexation of the West Bank
The latter have also demanded, and apparently obtained, that security forces be granted a wider margin of manoeuvre. That is, greater freedom in the use of force against Palestinians. "We will strengthen support for fighters and police officers in order to defeat terrorism," added the Likud. In the same vein, Netanyahu announced that the new Defence Minister will be Yoav Galant, a former general who headed the military division responsible for controlling the Gaza Strip in the late 1990s.
Above all, Netanyahu's coalition includes the Religious Zionism party of Bezalel Smotrich and Jewish Power of Itamar Ben Gvir. Both are known for their anti-Palestinian positions and their demand to annex the West Bank. Also joining them is Avi Maoz's Noam, which is instead openly anti-LGBTQ. For this reason, several hundred people demonstrated in front of parliament on Thursday waving rainbow flags.