Parliamentarians hope to present legislation to the Knesset this week to
authorize West Bank outposts, such as the Ulpana, even though Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu has yet to give his backing to such bills.
The bills,
which could retroactively transform dozens of outposts into legalized
settlements, could be debated by the plenum as early as Wednesday. It must pass
a preliminary reading and three other readings before it passes into
law.
According to coalition chairman Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) the bill is
unlikely to be brought to the plenum on Monday.
At the Likud ministerial
committee meeting, Netanyahu spoke of the complex situation facing 30 families
in the Ulpana outpost.
The High Court of Justice has ordered the state to
evacuate the outpost – on the outskirts of Beit El – by July 1. According
to the court, the homes were built on Palestinian property without the proper
permits.
Legislation is one of the few possible alternatives to avert an evacuation.
Netanyahu has yet to endorse or disavow the legislative
attempts.
The problem facing the Ulpana families was “a complex” one, he
said at the ministerial meeting.
“We have to deal with it in a logical
and reasonable manner. It is a difficult problem. This is a hard nut to
crack,” he said.
Energy and Water Minister Uzi Landau (Yisrael Beytenu)
on Sunday said that the Ulpana residents should not have to pay for the
government’s mistakes.
“It is not just or normal to destroy homes that
people purchased with money,” he said.
Landau, who in the past has spoken
out in support of West Bank outposts, participated in a ministerial forum on the
matter with Netanyahu on Friday.
Other ministers who were present Defense
Minister Ehud Barak (Independence), Minister- without-Portfolio Bennie Begin
(Likud), Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya’alon (Likud), Education Minister
Gideon Sa’ar (Likud), Kadima party chairman Shaul Mofaz and Attorney-General
Yehuda Weinstein, as well as representatives of the IDF’s Civil Administration
of Judea and Samaria.