A pair of Israeli ministers have provoked controversy after attending the re-establishment of a key West Bank settlement, with one hailing the move for “killing the idea of a Palestinian state”.
Sa-Nur, in the northern part of the territory, is being restored as a settler community, more than 20 years since it was demolished, after reportedly gaining approval from the Security Cabinet last May.
Israel Ganz, the leader of the settlement umbrella group the Yesha Council, confirmed at the time that the government had granted permission for the settlements, including two that were previously forcibly evacuated as part of the 2005 Disengagement Plan, in a secret vote.
On Sunday, 16 families took up residence in Sa-Nur to restore its status as a legal settlement under Israeli law (though much of the world considers all West Bank settlements illegal under international law).
New residents included Shomron Regional Council Chairman Yossi Dagan, who was one of those forced to leave the area in 2005, along with his family.
Speaking at the ceremony, Defence Minister Israel Katz repeated his previous pledge that the government would look to formalise 140 “outposts”, settlement communities considered illegal even under Israeli law, into legal settlements.
And Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, one of the government’s strongest proponents of the settlement project, called the move a “historic correction” of the “sinful expulsion [of settlers] from northern Samaria”.
"We are abolishing the disgrace of expulsion, killing the idea of the Palestinian state, and returning to the settlement of Sa-Nur. This is a day of celebration for the settlement movement and a national holiday for the State of Israel,” he said.
"Today we are making history in Samaria and effectively abolishing the terrible crime of expulsion from northern Samaria,” added Dagan.
"We have proven that it is possible to turn back the clock, to right an injustice even if it seems that all is lost."
However, the announcement was condemned by Peace Now, a liberal campaign group that advocates for a two-state solution, which called the policy “stupid and wicked” and claimed it was “a move by a government that is doing everything it can to prevent Israelis and Palestinians from having a future of peace and an end to the conflict”.
"All of this is done solely to realise the messianic vision of an extremist minority, at a cost borne by Israeli society as a whole,” it added.
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