JERUSALEM — The incoming Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu put West Bank settlement expansion at the top of its list of priorities Wednesday, vowing to legalize dozens of illegally built outposts and annex the occupied territory as part of the coalition deal. with ultranationalist allies.
The coalition agreements, released a day before the government took office, also included language endorsing discrimination against LGBTQ people on religious grounds, controversial court reforms and generous stipends for ultra-Orthodox men who prefer to study over work.
The package laid the groundwork for what is expected to be a stormy start for the most religious and right-wing government in the country’s history, which could put it at odds with much of the Israeli public, irritate Israel’s closest allies. and increase tensions with the Palestinians.
“What worries me most is that these agreements will change the democratic structure of what we know as the State of Israel,” said Tomer Naor, legal director of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a watchdog group. “One day we will wake up and Netanyahu will not be prime minister, but some of these changes will be irreversible.”
The guidelines stemmed from a commitment to “advance and develop settlements in all parts of the land of Israel,” including “Judea and Samaria,” the Biblical names for the West Bank.
Israel captured the West Bank in 1967 along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, territory the Palestinians seek for a future state. Israel has built dozens of Jewish settlements that house some 500,000 Israelis living alongside some 2.5 million Palestinians.
Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered by most of the international community to be illegal and an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians.
In response to a request for comment, Palestinian leaders stressed that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only be resolved through the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Without a negotiated two-state solution, “there will be no peace, security or stability in the region,” said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Netanyahu, who served as prime minister for 12 years, returns to power after being ousted last year. His new government, which he takes office tomorrow, is made up of ultra-Orthodox parties, a far-right ultra-nationalist religious faction affiliated with the West Bank settler movement and his Likud party.