Tel-Chai Nation

Following some serious pressure from the Likud coalition, the prime minister has agreed to set up a panel to help legalize "outposts":

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday set up a small ministerial panel with the authority to legalize unauthorized outposts on state land.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the panel was designed to legalize three West Bank outposts: Rehalim, Bruchin and Sansana.

In all three cases, according to the Prime Minister’s Office, the government made initial decisions to authorize the three communities as legal settlements over a decade ago, but technical issues prevented their legalization.

The government approved the creation of Bruchin on May 19, 1983, Rehalim on November 27, 1991, and Sansana on June 28, 1998 as legal settlements, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

The new panel will now resolve the technical issues related to the three outposts and then legalize them. It was created in lieu of Netanyahu’s promise to bring the issue to the government for approval.

Israeli officials have explained that authorizing these three outposts does not violate Israel’s pledge not to create new settlements, because these communities were created prior to that promise. [...]

Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein said that he hoped the panel would move quickly to authorize Bruchin, Rehalim and Sansana, possibly in the coming days.

“We are obliged to bring clarity for the wonderful young families [in these communities] that could not define their future for years,” he said.

They're also obliged to ensure that Ehud Barak cannot "pull rank" and have his own personal way for the sake of his own agendas.

Update: 3 communities have been legalized, and according to this news, Ehud Barak may be agreeing now to legalize the Ulpana neighborhood, but he's still got to be watched carefully.

Labels: Israel