image Buildings under construction are seen in this general view picture of the Israeli settlement of Efrat, in the occupied West Bank March 26, 2017. Picture taken March 26, 2017. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTX33V8P

Israel to retroactively legalize settlements on private Palestinian lands

Government officials said they were prepared to postpone implementing the legalization law until the High Court of Justice ruled on the petitions against it. The legalization law is meant to retroactively legalize homes in settlements that were built on Palestinian land by compensating the landowners. It is scheduled to take effect in two days.

In the state’s response to the High Court of Justice, it conditioned its consent to suspending the law on the state being able to continue the steps needed to implement it. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who opposed the law, asked the High Court of Justice to postpone implementing the law until it ruled on the objecting petitions.