Israeli PM to partially prove legalizing settlements in West Bank

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to approve parts of a recent controversial report advocating legalizing the status of settlement and outposts in the West Bank, Israel Radio reported Wednesday. In June, the Levy Committee, headed by former Supreme Court vice-president Edmond Levy, recommended changing the legal status of settlements, ruling that Israel is not an occupying entity according to the Geneva Convention, finding that Israel "does not meet the criteria of 'military occupation' under international law. " The report recommended measures to legalize settlement status, including seizures of privately-owned and army-owned lands, as well as an annulment of army orders preventing settlers from expropriating farm land for agricultural use. The report is a counterpart to a 2005 report by attorney Talia Sasson, which recommended demolishing 120 settlements it's legal team deemed unlawful. Netanyahu, according to the Ha'aretz daily report, was pressured by right-wing members of his Likud party to adopt the report. Army Radio reported that Netanyahu was planning to submit several of the report's clauses for government approval at the upcoming weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday. The Prime Minister's Office is currently working on drafting the legislation, including clarifications regarding international rulings deeming the West Bank occupied territory. The international community considers all settlements built in the West Bank and east Jerusalem to be illegal because they are built on territory Israel occupied during the 1967 War. Israel considers most areas it came into control of after the 1967 War as disputed, and not occupied, and whose final status is to be decided as a result of direct negotiations with the Palestinians. Past Labor party member, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who is seen as trying to appeal to a left-of-center electorate in upcoming elections, came out strongly against the report. On Wednesday, Barak said that approving the Levy report would " backfire" on its supporters. "The report's adoption won't strengthen the settlements, but rather cause diplomatic damage and increase Israel's isolation in the world," he wrote in a statement to reporters. Opposition leader and current Labor chief, Shelly Yachimovich, said Netanyahu's adopting the Levy report was an attempt to play sectors of the Israeli public against each other and electioneering. "He's trying to bring back a fictitious argument between the Right and the Left that doesn't exist, to divert the public's attention away from socio-economic matters," she said. Head of the left-wing Meretz party, Zehava Gal-On, warned that the consequences of adopting the report would lead to "sanctions" and "Israel's isolation" in the world A month ago, Barak introduced a West Bank unilateral withdrawal plan, suggesting that settlers who choose to remain would do so under a Palestinian regime. Peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians came to a halt in 2009, over Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's contention of continued settlement activity, and Israel's demand that the Palestinians formally recognize Israel as the Jewish homeland.