US ‘Extremely Troubled’ by Israel’s Repeal of West Bank Disengagement Law

Israeli soldiers operate in village of Sarra near the West Bank city of Nablus on March 12, 2023. Majdi Mohammed/AP Photo

The White House is “extremely troubled” by the Israeli Knesset’s vote to repeal parts of a 2005 law that had banned Israelis from entering and residing in four communities in the northern West Bank.

Israeli lawmakers approved the private measure—sponsored by Yuli Edelstein, a member of  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s National Liberal Movement/Likud party—in a 31–18 vote in the early hours of March 21.

The bill must be approved by an Israeli military commander before it can be enforced.

The law effectively reverses clauses of the 2005 Disengagement Law that had ordered the evacuation of four settlements in the northern West Bank—Homesh, Ganim, Kadim, and Sa-Nur—when Israeli forces withdrew from the Gaza Strip, also known as the “disengagement.”

Previously, Israeli citizens weren’t allowed into the evacuated areas unless they received permission from the Israeli military, but the bill effectively paves the way for them to be allowed back into any of the settlements.

The measure also amends Article 28, which had canceled rights regarding real estate in the vacated areas, stating that this will no longer apply to rights established there starting from the date of the bill’s approval.

The West Bank Jewish settlement of Eli on Feb. 14, 2023. Ariel Schalit/AP Photo

‘National, Moral Stain on Israel’

Israeli lawmakers billed the measure as a way of helping to “expunge, to some extent, the national and moral stain ... on the State of Israel” and claimed that “none of the purposes of the Disengagement Plan were realized.” In a statement announcing the new measure, the Knesset said the 2005 law had caused “immense damage” and “injustice” to the citizens of those areas, whose “evacuation and uprooting was legalized by the law.”

The Biden administration called it a violation of commitments Israel made to the United States.

“The United States is extremely troubled that the Israeli Knesset has passed legislation rescinding important parts of the 2005 Disengagement Law,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters in a press briefing on March 21. “At least one of these outposts in this area, Homesh, was built on private Palestinian land, which is illegal under Israeli law.”

“It is all the more concerning that such a significant piece of legislation passed with just 31 yes votes out of an assembly of 120 members.”

Deescalating and reducing violence is in all parties’ interests, and Israel should refrain from allowing settlers to return to the areas named in the legislation, he said.

Patel added that the United States has been clear that advancing settlements will prevent the achievement of a two-state solution.

“This certainly includes creating new settlements, building or legalizing outposts, or allowing buildings of any kind on private Palestinian land or deep in the West Bank adjacent to Palestinian communities, all of which would be facilitated by this legal change,” he said. “The amendments to the disengagement law are also inconsistent with Israel’s recent commitments to deescalating Israeli–Palestinian tensions.”

Israeli soldiers take positions during clashes with Palestinians in the village of Azzun in the north of the West Bank after the funeral of Yahya Adwan, who was killed during an overnight Israeli army operation, on April 30, 2022. Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP via Getty Images

Palestinian–Israel Unrest

European Union officials also condemned the vote in a statement, while calling on Israeli lawmakers to revoke the new law.

“Today’s decision in the Knesset to repeal some articles of the 2005 Disengagement law concerning the Northern West Bank is counterproductive to de-escalation efforts, and hampers the possibility to pursue confidence-building measures and create a political horizon for dialogue,” Peter Stano, the EU’s lead spokesman for foreign affairs and security policy, said in a written statement.

The EU considers settlements illegal under international law and holds that they are a major obstacle to a peaceful two-state solution, Stano said.

“The Gaza Disengagement law of 2005, and its articles concerning the northern West Bank, was an important step toward a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” he said. “The decision of the Knesset is a clear step back.”

Israeli lawmakers passed the bill just days after government officials met with the Palestinian National Authority in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. During that meeting, Israel reaffirmed its commitment to halt discussion regarding any new settlement units for four months and to stop authorizing any outposts for six months.

The latest measure comes amid continued unrest between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank that has increasingly become more violent. In February, a U.S. citizen was fatally shot in the area, reportedly by Palestinian gunmen.

His death came just hours after Jewish settlers rampaged through the Palestinian village of Huwara, setting fire to homes, damaging vehicles, and attacking Palestinians.

Edelstein posted a message in Hebrew on Twitter following the passing of the bill.

“The State of Israel tonight began its recovery process from the deportation disaster,” Edelstein wrote, according to an English translation. “This is the first and significant step toward real healing and settlement in Israel’s homeland territories, which belong to it.”