Germany joins US and UN in condemning Regulation Law

A spokesman for Germany’s Foreign Ministry referred to the proposed Regulation Law as a “violation of international law.”

A spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry called for Israel to scrap the proposed Regulation Law that has already passed its first reading in the Knesset.

“Such a bill violates international law,” the spokesperson charged. “Israeli governments, and also Prime Minister Netanyahu, have repeatedly committed themselves to evacuating outposts that even from their perspective are considered illegal.”

The spokesman’s condemnation of the Regulation Law, which would legalize some 4,000 homes in Judea and Samaria, followed criticism from the US and the UN, both of whom argued that the proposed law would undermine the chances for Israeli-Palestinian peace.

US State Department Spokesperson Mark Toner said on Monday that “enacting this law would be profoundly damaging to the prospects for a two-state solution.”

Nickolay Mladenov, the UN’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said that the Regulation Law “will greatly diminish the prospect of Arab-Israeli peace.”

The German spokesperson joined Mladenov and Toner in expressing concern for “statements made by Israeli government officials during this debate.”

Toner and Mladenov had both specified that they were troubled by statements made by Israeli political figures that described the Regulation Law as a “step towards annexation of the West Bank.”

Both officials appeared to have implicitly referred to remarks made by Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who said that the Regulation Law was a “spearhead to (Israeli) sovereignty” in Judea and Samaria.

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News

Israel-Germany relationsJudea and SamariaMark TonerNaftali BennettNickolay MladenovRegulation Law