ALGEMEINER
Israel Draws Up Document Justifying Legality of Settlements, Property Claims to West Bank
by Ruthie Blum
December 3, 2015

Israel is preparing a document providing the legal justification for Israeli settlements, Israel’s Channel 2 reported on Thursday evening. According to the report, the document – which spells out why settlement construction in the West Bank is completely legitimate and does not violate international law — will be translated into multiple languages and distributed to all Israeli embassies in the world. The document is part of an initiative spearheaded by Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, who is guiding the Ministry’s legal team. Channel 2 highlighted certain clauses of the document, among them passages stating that Israel’s property claims to Judea and Samaria are valid, as the land “was never under the legitimate sovereignty of any country,” and  because the “Jewish affinity to Judea and Samaria is thousands of years old.” The settlements, according to the document, are not new; nor do they constitute “colonization.” READ MORE