Jews cannot be barred from settling in West Bank – Israel 

It is “morally wrong” to question the Jewish right to live in Palestinian territories, the Foreign Ministry says

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has rebuked Western criticism of its recent decision to formally approve 19 settlements in the occupied West Bank, some of which had been evacuated during the 2005 disengagement from Gaza.

A group of 14 mostly European nations condemned the Israeli security cabinet’s move earlier this month, citing its illegality under international law and its escalatory effect on the conflict with Palestinians. The long-running settlement issue is a major source of tension and a key factor in what critics call an Israeli system that discriminates against Arabs.

“Foreign governments will not restrict the right of Jews to live in the Land of Israel, and any such call is morally wrong and discriminatory against Jews,” the statement on Thursday from West Jerusalem said.

The ministry cited the 1917 Balfour Declaration as the basis for its settlement policy, which it insisted complies with international law. The British document envisioned a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, which the UK took over as a mandate territory after the Ottoman Empire’s defeat in World War I.

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In a joint statement on Wednesday, Canada, Japan, the UK, and several members of the European Union, including France and Germany, expressed “clear opposition to any form of annexation and to the expansion of settlement policies” and warned that Israel is undermining the US-backed truce in Gaza with its actions.

Earlier this year, several Western nations recognized Palestine in a coordinated diplomatic policy shift meant to pressure Israel over its military tactics in Gaza and its rejection of a two-state solution of the Middle East conflict.

The Israeli decision, formally announced on Sunday by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich – a settler and political hardliner – creates 11 new settlements and recognizes the status of eight existing outposts in the West Bank.

According to Israeli media, about half of them are located deep inside the West Bank. Four were previously evacuated during the 2005 unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, though two were reestablished this May. Israel annulled the provisions that led to the evacuations in March 2023.