27 feb 2018
The Israeli Knesset on Monday evening approved by the first reading a bill that allows the Israeli occupation authorities to detain the bodies of Palestinian martyrs and ban funerals.
Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on Tuesday reported that 57 MKs voted in favor of the bill, 11 voted against while the rest abstained.
The bill grants the Israeli police the authority to detain the bodies of martyrs and set some conditions for their release regarding the timing, the funeral procession and the place and way of burial.
Initiated by Israel's Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan and Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked, the bill provides for holding the bodies of Palestinian martyrs under the pretext of fearing that their funerals might be turned into acts of "violence and incitement".
Based on the bill, the Israeli Supreme Court does not have the right to object to police orders to detain bodies of Palestinian martyrs.
The bill, which was approved by the preliminary reading on 25th January 2016, still needs to be ratified by the second and third readings to become in force.
The bill was first proposed following a Supreme Court decision to hand over the bodies of the Palestinians who carried out the al-Aqsa shooting attack in July 2017 in which two Israeli policemen were killed. The Israeli police then refused to return the bodies of the three martyrs.
Nearly 253 bodies of Palestinian martyrs have been detained by the Israeli authorities over years. Some bodies were transferred to the "cemeteries of numbers" after being held in mortuaries.
The Israeli authorities aim, through this policy, to pressure the Palestinian resistance and force it to hand over Israeli soldiers captured in the Gaza Strip.
Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on Tuesday reported that 57 MKs voted in favor of the bill, 11 voted against while the rest abstained.
The bill grants the Israeli police the authority to detain the bodies of martyrs and set some conditions for their release regarding the timing, the funeral procession and the place and way of burial.
Initiated by Israel's Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan and Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked, the bill provides for holding the bodies of Palestinian martyrs under the pretext of fearing that their funerals might be turned into acts of "violence and incitement".
Based on the bill, the Israeli Supreme Court does not have the right to object to police orders to detain bodies of Palestinian martyrs.
The bill, which was approved by the preliminary reading on 25th January 2016, still needs to be ratified by the second and third readings to become in force.
The bill was first proposed following a Supreme Court decision to hand over the bodies of the Palestinians who carried out the al-Aqsa shooting attack in July 2017 in which two Israeli policemen were killed. The Israeli police then refused to return the bodies of the three martyrs.
Nearly 253 bodies of Palestinian martyrs have been detained by the Israeli authorities over years. Some bodies were transferred to the "cemeteries of numbers" after being held in mortuaries.
The Israeli authorities aim, through this policy, to pressure the Palestinian resistance and force it to hand over Israeli soldiers captured in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli government will support a bill barring Palestinians from petitioning the High Court of Justice, a Knesset committee announced on Sunday.
A new bill, put forward by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, of the pro-settlement Jewish Home party, would see the cases of West Bank residents redirected to the Jerusalem District Court.
Such cases would include building and planning permits, entry and exit requests, and would also serve as the appeals court for those sentenced by Israeli military courts.
According to Days of Palestine, the move has been justified as an attempt to reduce the High Court’s case load; however High Court justices are known to be critical of Israel’s settlement policies, and have often disapproved government delay to evacuate illegal outposts in the occupied territories, in an attempt to legalize them.
Last month, Shaked advocated for the move stating that the Jerusalem District Court would assess the facts of cases brought by Palestinians, rather than “making do only with the offhanded claims of ownership [by Palestinians] that are not backed up by evidence.”
Last week, Haya Sandberg, a close associate of Shaked, was chosen to serve on the Jerusalem District Court. Known for her strong pro-settlement views, Sandberg would most likely be one of the judges to hear petitions from West Bank Palestinians in her new position.
Reacting to the Knesset decision Arab MK Yousef Jabareen called the bill “another proposal from the workshop of a pro-settler, right-wing government that is seeking to normalize the occupation and is promoting creeping annexation of West Bank territory and of the court system in the area.”
A new bill, put forward by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, of the pro-settlement Jewish Home party, would see the cases of West Bank residents redirected to the Jerusalem District Court.
Such cases would include building and planning permits, entry and exit requests, and would also serve as the appeals court for those sentenced by Israeli military courts.
According to Days of Palestine, the move has been justified as an attempt to reduce the High Court’s case load; however High Court justices are known to be critical of Israel’s settlement policies, and have often disapproved government delay to evacuate illegal outposts in the occupied territories, in an attempt to legalize them.
Last month, Shaked advocated for the move stating that the Jerusalem District Court would assess the facts of cases brought by Palestinians, rather than “making do only with the offhanded claims of ownership [by Palestinians] that are not backed up by evidence.”
Last week, Haya Sandberg, a close associate of Shaked, was chosen to serve on the Jerusalem District Court. Known for her strong pro-settlement views, Sandberg would most likely be one of the judges to hear petitions from West Bank Palestinians in her new position.
Reacting to the Knesset decision Arab MK Yousef Jabareen called the bill “another proposal from the workshop of a pro-settler, right-wing government that is seeking to normalize the occupation and is promoting creeping annexation of West Bank territory and of the court system in the area.”
25 feb 2018
The Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation is set on Sunday to discuss a bill banning the return of the bodies of Palestinian martyrs to their families.
According to the website of the Hebrew TV channel 7, the bill was initiated by MKs from the extremist parties Jewish Home and Yisrael Beiteinu.
The bill provides for withholding the bodies of Palestinian martyrs as long as the Palestinian factions are detaining Israelis or bodies of Israelis.
It also stresses the necessity to make sure that Palestinian martyrs' funerals are not turned into acts of "violence and incitement".
The same bill allows the Israeli Prime Minister to order the return of the body of any Palestinian martyr to his family for special reasons.
According to the website of the Hebrew TV channel 7, the bill was initiated by MKs from the extremist parties Jewish Home and Yisrael Beiteinu.
The bill provides for withholding the bodies of Palestinian martyrs as long as the Palestinian factions are detaining Israelis or bodies of Israelis.
It also stresses the necessity to make sure that Palestinian martyrs' funerals are not turned into acts of "violence and incitement".
The same bill allows the Israeli Prime Minister to order the return of the body of any Palestinian martyr to his family for special reasons.
22 feb 2018
Israeli occupation authorities set free a Palestinian prisoner, Mahmoud Sebaih, from al-Khader town near Bethlehem after a 2-year imprisonment in the illegal administrative detention without charge or trial.
The people of the town along with representatives of local organizations welcomed Sebaih by a car rally. The Participants waved the Palestinian flags and banners condemning the Israeli occupation and others expressing congratulations for the release of Sebaih.
Sebaih said that over 500 administrative detainees are going on their boycott of Israeli courts in order to prevent Israeli occupation authorities from misleading the world with the idea that Palestinian prisoners are brought to a just jurisdiction.
The people of the town along with representatives of local organizations welcomed Sebaih by a car rally. The Participants waved the Palestinian flags and banners condemning the Israeli occupation and others expressing congratulations for the release of Sebaih.
Sebaih said that over 500 administrative detainees are going on their boycott of Israeli courts in order to prevent Israeli occupation authorities from misleading the world with the idea that Palestinian prisoners are brought to a just jurisdiction.
21 feb 2018
Hebrew media sources on Tuesday said that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing to introduce a bill to impose Israeli sovereignty on Ma'ale Adumim settlement, east of Jerusalem, as part of the project "E1".
The Hebrew TV channel 20 said that Netanyahu expects that the US president Donald Trump will not try to prevent this move.
The TV channel added that Netanyahu's move comes to appease the angry right-wing who are frustrated with the slow pace of settlement construction in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
It pointed out that the same bill was proposed several times in the past but it was repeatedly rejected due to US pressures.
The Hebrew channel revealed that talks has been conducted between Tel Aviv and Washington in recent weeks on this matter. Israelis believe that if Trump realizes that Palestinians do not want to be engaged in negotiations mediated by the US, he may not oppose the annexation of Ma'ale Adumim.
"E1" area acquired its name from the abbreviate for the word "East". It is located adjacent to East Jerusalem and covers an area of 12 square kilometers. There are Israeli plans for construction in this area to create a physical link between Ma'ale Adumim settlement and Jerusalem.
On 23rd December 2016 the UN Security Council adopted a draft resolution that condemns the Israeli settlement construction and calls for its complete halt saying that it undermines the two-state solution and the peace process.
The Hebrew TV channel 20 said that Netanyahu expects that the US president Donald Trump will not try to prevent this move.
The TV channel added that Netanyahu's move comes to appease the angry right-wing who are frustrated with the slow pace of settlement construction in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
It pointed out that the same bill was proposed several times in the past but it was repeatedly rejected due to US pressures.
The Hebrew channel revealed that talks has been conducted between Tel Aviv and Washington in recent weeks on this matter. Israelis believe that if Trump realizes that Palestinians do not want to be engaged in negotiations mediated by the US, he may not oppose the annexation of Ma'ale Adumim.
"E1" area acquired its name from the abbreviate for the word "East". It is located adjacent to East Jerusalem and covers an area of 12 square kilometers. There are Israeli plans for construction in this area to create a physical link between Ma'ale Adumim settlement and Jerusalem.
On 23rd December 2016 the UN Security Council adopted a draft resolution that condemns the Israeli settlement construction and calls for its complete halt saying that it undermines the two-state solution and the peace process.
20 feb 2018
Palestinian prisoners who are held captive in Israeli jails illegally under the so called administrative detention for no charges or trials have continued their boycotting of Israeli occupation military courts for the fifth day in a row in protest at the arbitrary decisions of detaining them administratively.
In a statement on Tuesday, the administrative detainees said that the boycott is going to last until a further notice. It aims at foiling Israeli attempts to mislead the public opinion by showing that Palestinian prisoners are subjected to a legal jurisdiction, the statement elaborated.
The captives called on Palestinian factions and human rights organizations as well as civil institutions and the media to spread the word of Palestinian administrative detainees and to call for a massive mobilization until halting the illegal administrative detention.
They demanded that Palestinian Authority’s President Mahmoud Abbas support them politically and legally through bringing their cases to international competent courts.
The administrative detainees also called on Palestinian ambassadors across the world to launch media and diplomatic campaigns in order to pressure Israeli occupation authorities to put an end to the illegitimate administrative detention.
In a statement on Tuesday, the administrative detainees said that the boycott is going to last until a further notice. It aims at foiling Israeli attempts to mislead the public opinion by showing that Palestinian prisoners are subjected to a legal jurisdiction, the statement elaborated.
The captives called on Palestinian factions and human rights organizations as well as civil institutions and the media to spread the word of Palestinian administrative detainees and to call for a massive mobilization until halting the illegal administrative detention.
They demanded that Palestinian Authority’s President Mahmoud Abbas support them politically and legally through bringing their cases to international competent courts.
The administrative detainees also called on Palestinian ambassadors across the world to launch media and diplomatic campaigns in order to pressure Israeli occupation authorities to put an end to the illegitimate administrative detention.
19 feb 2018
“The Israeli government provides monthly allowances to terrorists who killed Palestinians,” Tayseer Khalid, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said on Monday.
Khalid was responding to an Israeli ministerial committee that approved deducting the allowances the Palestinian Authority (PA) allocates for families of prisoners and those killed by Israel from the Palestinian tax revenues Israel collects on behalf of the PA, which he described as piracy and theft of Palestinian public funds.
He called for confronting Israel’s practices in this regard and exposing what he described as “the abhorrent racist policy of the Israeli government which tries to blackmail Palestinians on a humanitarian issue related to obligations towards victims of terrorism practiced by Israel against Palestinians.”
According to WAFA, Khalid added that “the Israel government is not even ashamed of itself as it proceeds with such piracy especially since it allocates budgets and salaries to Jewish terrorists who committed crimes of murder and attacks against the Palestinians, and supports their families and funds Jewish terror organizations and associations.”
He also stressed that the government also supports Jews convicted in Israeli courts of terrorist acts against Palestinians and treats them as if they were national heroes.
Khalid called for submitting the crimes committed by Israeli forces and Jewish terrorist organizations in the West Bank to the Human Rights Council and other organizations concerned with exposing Israel’s violations in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Khalid was responding to an Israeli ministerial committee that approved deducting the allowances the Palestinian Authority (PA) allocates for families of prisoners and those killed by Israel from the Palestinian tax revenues Israel collects on behalf of the PA, which he described as piracy and theft of Palestinian public funds.
He called for confronting Israel’s practices in this regard and exposing what he described as “the abhorrent racist policy of the Israeli government which tries to blackmail Palestinians on a humanitarian issue related to obligations towards victims of terrorism practiced by Israel against Palestinians.”
According to WAFA, Khalid added that “the Israel government is not even ashamed of itself as it proceeds with such piracy especially since it allocates budgets and salaries to Jewish terrorists who committed crimes of murder and attacks against the Palestinians, and supports their families and funds Jewish terror organizations and associations.”
He also stressed that the government also supports Jews convicted in Israeli courts of terrorist acts against Palestinians and treats them as if they were national heroes.
Khalid called for submitting the crimes committed by Israeli forces and Jewish terrorist organizations in the West Bank to the Human Rights Council and other organizations concerned with exposing Israel’s violations in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The family of a young Palestinian man from occupied Jerusalem has reported, Monday, that their son suffered moderate wounds, last Wednesday, when a group of extremist Israeli colonizers attacked him as he was leaving al-Aqsa Mosque.
Maysoon al-Moghrabi said that her son, Mustafa Ibrahim al-Moghrabi, 20, was attacked by a group of extremist colonizers, just as he, and other worshipers, were leaving the Al-Aqsa Mosque, before he was rushed to a hospital in the city.
The attack left him bleeding and caused a fracture in his nose in addition to fatigue, various cuts and bruises; he was later discharged and sent home after receiving the needed treatment.
On Saturday evening, the police summoned him for interrogation and forced him under house arrest until his court session for today, Monday.
The wounded young man is facing charges that include “assaulting settlers,” although he was attacked by them while leaving the mosque.
Furthermore, the two young men, Osama Halhouli and Mohammad Awad, who provided Mustafa with the urgently needed first aid, were transferred to Haifa under a five-day exclusion order denying them entry to Jerusalem, until a judge deliberates in their case today. Video
Maysoon al-Moghrabi said that her son, Mustafa Ibrahim al-Moghrabi, 20, was attacked by a group of extremist colonizers, just as he, and other worshipers, were leaving the Al-Aqsa Mosque, before he was rushed to a hospital in the city.
The attack left him bleeding and caused a fracture in his nose in addition to fatigue, various cuts and bruises; he was later discharged and sent home after receiving the needed treatment.
On Saturday evening, the police summoned him for interrogation and forced him under house arrest until his court session for today, Monday.
The wounded young man is facing charges that include “assaulting settlers,” although he was attacked by them while leaving the mosque.
Furthermore, the two young men, Osama Halhouli and Mohammad Awad, who provided Mustafa with the urgently needed first aid, were transferred to Haifa under a five-day exclusion order denying them entry to Jerusalem, until a judge deliberates in their case today. Video
An Israeli bill that allows the Israeli government to slash funds to the Palestinian Authority (PA) because of salaries paid to Palestinian prisoners and their families was approved on Sunday, in a move condemned by activists as “an act of piracy.”
Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved the bill, which calls for deducting welfare payments paid to the prisoners and their families from the tax revenues that Israel transfers to the PA.
The bill will have to pass three readings in the Knesset plenum before it becomes law.
According to Israeli news outlets, the bill would see Israel cut around NIS 1 billion ($285 million) from the annual tax revenues it allegedly hands over to the PA.
The bill was initiated by opposition Yesh Atid MK Elazar Stern.
The funds that Israel is planning to deduct would be funneled to Israeli settlers and settlement projects across the occupied Palestinian territories.
Reacting to the decision of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, many activists denounced the move as an act of piracy and flagrant theft of money.
The approval of the bill comes in the context of the campaign of incitement and hostility waged by the occupation government against the prisoners and the families of the martyrs and wounded anti-occupation protesters.
Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved the bill, which calls for deducting welfare payments paid to the prisoners and their families from the tax revenues that Israel transfers to the PA.
The bill will have to pass three readings in the Knesset plenum before it becomes law.
According to Israeli news outlets, the bill would see Israel cut around NIS 1 billion ($285 million) from the annual tax revenues it allegedly hands over to the PA.
The bill was initiated by opposition Yesh Atid MK Elazar Stern.
The funds that Israel is planning to deduct would be funneled to Israeli settlers and settlement projects across the occupied Palestinian territories.
Reacting to the decision of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, many activists denounced the move as an act of piracy and flagrant theft of money.
The approval of the bill comes in the context of the campaign of incitement and hostility waged by the occupation government against the prisoners and the families of the martyrs and wounded anti-occupation protesters.
16 feb 2018
Palestinian administrative detainees in Israeli jails began on Thursday an open-ended boycott of all Israeli military courts.
According to attorney Mahmoud Halabi, from the Palestinian Prisoners Society, detainees who are held without charge or trial for prolonged periods have put into effect their decision to boycott all Israeli courts.
He said there are currently 450 administrative detainees in Israeli lock-ups, some among whom have had their six-month detention renewed several times and some others have been incarcerated for 14 straight years without charge or trial.
Rights groups have condemned the widely-practiced administrative detention by the Israeli occupation as illegal and a violation of international law for it fails to provide a fair trial to the detainees.
According to attorney Mahmoud Halabi, from the Palestinian Prisoners Society, detainees who are held without charge or trial for prolonged periods have put into effect their decision to boycott all Israeli courts.
He said there are currently 450 administrative detainees in Israeli lock-ups, some among whom have had their six-month detention renewed several times and some others have been incarcerated for 14 straight years without charge or trial.
Rights groups have condemned the widely-practiced administrative detention by the Israeli occupation as illegal and a violation of international law for it fails to provide a fair trial to the detainees.
15 feb 2018
Israel must safeguard Jewish majority even at the expense of human rights, the country’s justice minister Ayelet Shaked has said.
On Monday, Shaked proposed this in a speech defending a bill that would legally define Israel as the “national home of the Jewish people” for the first time, according to Days of Palestine.
Shaked said that Israel must maintain both a Jewish majority and democracy, but stressed that keeping the state’s Jewish character may come “at the price” of human rights violations.
“There is place to maintain a Jewish majority even at the price of violation of rights,” Shaked told a conference in Tel Aviv on Monday, Israeli media reported.
In her speech, Shaked, a member of the far-right Jewish Home party, defended the so-called Jewish Nation-State Bill, which would constitutionally define Israel as the national home of the Jewish people for the first time.
“There are places where the character of the State of Israel as a Jewish state must be maintained, and this sometimes comes at the expense of equality,” Shaked said, as reported by Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.
Shaked said that Israel must administer equal civil, but not national, rights.
“Israel is a Jewish state. It isn’t a state of all its nations. That is, equal rights to all citizens but not equal national rights,” she said.
‘Highly dangerous’
The contentious Nation-State Bill, which still needs to be approved by Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a preliminary reading last May. It is expected to be brought to a first reading later this year.
The bill states that “the right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people”.
It also demotes Arabic from an official language to a language with “special status”, even though it is the mother tongue of approximately 1.7 million Palestinian citizens of the state.
Adalah, a legal centre for Palestinian citizens of Israel, said [PDF] that, because the bill would become a Basic Law in Israel, i.e. constitutionally binding, “its enactment could be used to justify through law widespread discrimination” against Israel’s non-Jewish citizens.
For that reason, it is “highly dangerous”, the group said.
The bill would also force all citizens of the state, regardless of their religion, to comply with Jewish civil law, often without legal precedent, explained [PDF] Mossawa, an advocacy centre for Palestinian citizens of Israel, in a position paper.
The legislation “clearly denigrates the non-Jewish, Palestinian Arab minority to the status of second-class citizens”, Mossawa concluded.
On Monday, Shaked proposed this in a speech defending a bill that would legally define Israel as the “national home of the Jewish people” for the first time, according to Days of Palestine.
Shaked said that Israel must maintain both a Jewish majority and democracy, but stressed that keeping the state’s Jewish character may come “at the price” of human rights violations.
“There is place to maintain a Jewish majority even at the price of violation of rights,” Shaked told a conference in Tel Aviv on Monday, Israeli media reported.
In her speech, Shaked, a member of the far-right Jewish Home party, defended the so-called Jewish Nation-State Bill, which would constitutionally define Israel as the national home of the Jewish people for the first time.
“There are places where the character of the State of Israel as a Jewish state must be maintained, and this sometimes comes at the expense of equality,” Shaked said, as reported by Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.
Shaked said that Israel must administer equal civil, but not national, rights.
“Israel is a Jewish state. It isn’t a state of all its nations. That is, equal rights to all citizens but not equal national rights,” she said.
‘Highly dangerous’
The contentious Nation-State Bill, which still needs to be approved by Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a preliminary reading last May. It is expected to be brought to a first reading later this year.
The bill states that “the right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people”.
It also demotes Arabic from an official language to a language with “special status”, even though it is the mother tongue of approximately 1.7 million Palestinian citizens of the state.
Adalah, a legal centre for Palestinian citizens of Israel, said [PDF] that, because the bill would become a Basic Law in Israel, i.e. constitutionally binding, “its enactment could be used to justify through law widespread discrimination” against Israel’s non-Jewish citizens.
For that reason, it is “highly dangerous”, the group said.
The bill would also force all citizens of the state, regardless of their religion, to comply with Jewish civil law, often without legal precedent, explained [PDF] Mossawa, an advocacy centre for Palestinian citizens of Israel, in a position paper.
The legislation “clearly denigrates the non-Jewish, Palestinian Arab minority to the status of second-class citizens”, Mossawa concluded.
11 feb 2018
The Israeli government coalition on Sunday intends to explore the possibility of backing new legislation at the Knesset calling for annexing illegal settlements in the West Bank to Israel’s sovereignty.
The legislation, which was drafted by Knesset members Yoav Kisch (Likud) and Bezalel Smotrich (Jewish Home), seeks to impose Israeli sovereignty over Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are currently under military rule.
According to Haaretz newspaper, the draft law has received approval from across the government coalition’s political spectrum and will be discussed during a meeting between heads of the coalition blocs to be held on Sunday
The meeting is intended to explore whether to push forward the settlement annexation bill at the Knesset or shelve it for the time being to avoid angry international reactions, which could not be in Israel’s favor.
The legislation, which was drafted by Knesset members Yoav Kisch (Likud) and Bezalel Smotrich (Jewish Home), seeks to impose Israeli sovereignty over Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are currently under military rule.
According to Haaretz newspaper, the draft law has received approval from across the government coalition’s political spectrum and will be discussed during a meeting between heads of the coalition blocs to be held on Sunday
The meeting is intended to explore whether to push forward the settlement annexation bill at the Knesset or shelve it for the time being to avoid angry international reactions, which could not be in Israel’s favor.
7 feb 2018
The Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation is set to discuss on Sunday a bill to deduct welfare payments by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to the families of jailed, injured and murdered Palestinians from the tax revenues Israel transfers annually to the PA.
The bill proposed by the Israeli war minister Avigdor Lieberman states that the funds to be deducted will be channeled to a future fund with three aims: enforcing punishment of the Palestinians who carry out attacks, establishing counter-terrorism projects and developing infrastructure networks.
Israel's Ministry of Public Security had previously claimed that the PA pays annually 1.2 billion shekels to the families of martyrs and prisoners, thereby encouraging "terrorism".
It also claimed that the PA in 2017 paid over 550 million shekels to released prisoners and families of prisoners and about 687 million shekels to the families of murdered and injured Palestinians—equivalent to 7% of the PA overall budget.
The new bill provides that the Israeli war minister at the end of each year presents an annual report to the cabinet under which the allowances of the families of Palestinian prisoners and martyrs will be deducted from the tax revenues collected by Israel for the PA.
The bill proposed by the Israeli war minister Avigdor Lieberman states that the funds to be deducted will be channeled to a future fund with three aims: enforcing punishment of the Palestinians who carry out attacks, establishing counter-terrorism projects and developing infrastructure networks.
Israel's Ministry of Public Security had previously claimed that the PA pays annually 1.2 billion shekels to the families of martyrs and prisoners, thereby encouraging "terrorism".
It also claimed that the PA in 2017 paid over 550 million shekels to released prisoners and families of prisoners and about 687 million shekels to the families of murdered and injured Palestinians—equivalent to 7% of the PA overall budget.
The new bill provides that the Israeli war minister at the end of each year presents an annual report to the cabinet under which the allowances of the families of Palestinian prisoners and martyrs will be deducted from the tax revenues collected by Israel for the PA.
4 feb 2018
The Israeli government is expected in its weekly meeting on Sunday to approve a plan to legalize Havat Gilad outpost after it had postponed the vote last week.
Havat Gilad outpost was established in 2002 on Palestinian lands belonging to Nablus city.
Israel regularly pushes for the establishment of new settlements or the legalization of existing ones in the West Bank under various pretexts. Such moves are usually taken following Palestinian anti-occupation attacks in order to win the international community's sympathy.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to put the project, which was prepared by the war minister Avigdor Lieberman, forward for a vote during this week's session.
Netanyahu had also instructed the Israeli Ministry of Public Security to provide Havat Gilad with an electricity network and improve its infrastructure.
Havat Gilad outpost, which is built on privately-owned Palestinian lands, is considered illegal under Israeli law. That's why the government had refrained from voting on the legalization plan last week.
Havat Gilad outpost was established in 2002 on Palestinian lands belonging to Nablus city.
Israel regularly pushes for the establishment of new settlements or the legalization of existing ones in the West Bank under various pretexts. Such moves are usually taken following Palestinian anti-occupation attacks in order to win the international community's sympathy.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to put the project, which was prepared by the war minister Avigdor Lieberman, forward for a vote during this week's session.
Netanyahu had also instructed the Israeli Ministry of Public Security to provide Havat Gilad with an electricity network and improve its infrastructure.
Havat Gilad outpost, which is built on privately-owned Palestinian lands, is considered illegal under Israeli law. That's why the government had refrained from voting on the legalization plan last week.
26 jan 2018
Israel's Council of Higher Education has supported the application of Israeli law to academic institutions in the West Bank settlements, according to a council member speaking at the Knesset Education Committee.
The Committee on Thursday approved in the first reading a bill submitted by MK Shuli Moalem-Rafaeli to close the Council of Higher Education in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and apply Israeli law to the academic institutions there.
Yesh Atid party voted in favor of the bill which was unanimously approved by the parties in the government coalition. The Education Committee did not discuss the bill's possible international implications.
Sources from the Council of Higher Education said that the Council's position on the bill was forwarded to the members as a legislative direction and it has not been discussed or voted on.
The Council said in response that the decision to impose Israeli sovereignty on higher education institutions in the West Bank is a political matter.
The bill is part of a series of bills submitted by the Jewish Home party and the government coalition for the gradual annexation of the West Bank settlements to Israel.
The Committee on Thursday approved in the first reading a bill submitted by MK Shuli Moalem-Rafaeli to close the Council of Higher Education in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and apply Israeli law to the academic institutions there.
Yesh Atid party voted in favor of the bill which was unanimously approved by the parties in the government coalition. The Education Committee did not discuss the bill's possible international implications.
Sources from the Council of Higher Education said that the Council's position on the bill was forwarded to the members as a legislative direction and it has not been discussed or voted on.
The Council said in response that the decision to impose Israeli sovereignty on higher education institutions in the West Bank is a political matter.
The bill is part of a series of bills submitted by the Jewish Home party and the government coalition for the gradual annexation of the West Bank settlements to Israel.
