JVP Statement on Passage of “Outpost Legalization” Bill

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 6, 2017
Contact: Naomi Dann| media@jvp.org | 845-377-5745
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Ahead of the passage of the so-called “outpost legalization bill” in the Israeli Knesset today, Jewish Voice for Peace issues the following statement from Executive Director Rebecca Vilkomerson:

“The outpost legalization bill is the latest in a series of steps to expand illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land. The bill retroactively gives the Israeli government’s blessing to settlements originally constructed without government approval. While this bill gives legal cover for these settlements within Israeli law, it does not change the fact that all of Israel’s construction of settlements on occupied land are illegal under international law.

Emboldened by the Trump administration, the Israeli government is expanding settlement construction at an alarming new rate. Last week, following the evacuation of the settlement outpost Amona, Education Minister Naftali Bennett pledged that this was a small setback that will lead to the full annexation of the West Bank. We should take Bennett at his word, and understand continued settlement expansion as a step towards that goal. Israel is facing two futures: either permanent apartheid or freedom and equality for all.”

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