The Knesset passes controversial Regulation Law

By a majority of 60 votes to 52, the Knesset Monday night gave its third and last reading to the Regulation Law (aka Settlement Bill) which legalizes 4,000 Jewish homes built in Judea and Samaria on land later claimed by Palestinian owners. The law offers landowners with proven claims either monetary compensation up to 125 percent of the plot’s value or alternative sites. Likud MK Benny Begin voted with the opposition, whose leader, Yitzhak Herzog of Labor said that the law is a black flag and exposes IDF officers and men to prosecution before the war crimes court at The Hague. The civil rights movement will appeal against the legislation to the Supreme Court.