Washington summons the Israeli ambassador because of the law of return to the four settlements in the West Bank
Corona virus appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 (Reuters)
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported today, Wednesday, that the United States summoned the Israeli ambassador to it, Mike Herzog, in the wake of the Knesset's approval of the abolition of what is known as the "disengagement law", which allows the return to 4 settlements in the occupied West Bank that were evacuated in 2005.
The Israeli authority added that Ambassador Herzog met with Wendy Sherman, US Deputy Secretary of State, who expressed her country's "deep concern" about the Israeli move.
According to the law of the Knesset, settlers will be allowed to return to settlements that were evacuated in the West Bank, but it did not include the Gush Katif settlements, which Israel evacuated in the Gaza Strip 18 years ago. In the context, Israeli Settlement Minister Orit Struck said that the settlements from which Tel Aviv withdrew in the Gaza Strip in 2005 are "part of the land of Israel, and the day will come when we return to it." Struck, who is from the extremist "religious Zionist" party, added that the important stage today is "the return to northern Samaria (the Hebrew name for the West Bank)," stressing that "the sin of disengagement as a whole will be corrected in the end."
Following the issuance of the law, the US State Department considered the Israeli Knesset law a "provocation" and a violation of the commitment made by Israel to the administration of (former US President) George Bush 20 years ago.
For his part, the European Union called on Israel to cancel it, and the EU's foreign policy official, Josep Borrell, said, "It has an adverse effect on efforts to reduce tension, and impedes the possibility of taking confidence-building measures and creating a political horizon for dialogue." In a statement, Borrell described the Knesset's decision as a "clear step backward," stressing that the European Union views the settlements as "illegal under international law, a major obstacle to peace and threatening the viability of the two-state solution." In August 2005, Israel evacuated 4 settlements in the northern West Bank, which are Ghanem, Kadim, Homesh, and Sanur, in addition to Gush Katif in southern Gaza, as part of the "Israeli disengagement" plan that was taken during the era of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
