Israel close to legalising nearly 4,000 settler homes

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has closed in on a controversial bill with a key rival on Monday that could legalise nearly 4,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank.

The bill, known as the Regulation Law, has drawn harsh criticism internationally. Its main backer, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, called it the start of Israel's eventual annexation of most of the West Bank. Netanyahu had originally opposed the controversial legislation.

The bill, which was voted for by 60 deputies to 49, still has to be adopted in three readings before becoming law. But an agreement between Netanyahu and Bennett would likely assure passage.

The legalisation has severely tested Netanyahu's coalition, seen as the most right-wing in Israeli history. A previous version was given preliminary approval last month.

"With this law, the state of Israel has moved from the path leading to the creation of a Palestinian state to the path leading to [Israeli] sovereignty" over most of the West Bank, Bennett told army radio.

In October, Bennett called on supporters to give up their lives to ensure the entire West Bank is a part of the state of Israel.

Netanyahu told a meeting of members of his Likud party that "we have worked very hard to find a solution," while Israeli media reported that a compromise was at hand.

The international community considers all settlements in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem and the West Bank to be illegal, whether they are authorised by the government or not.

The West Bank, occupied by Israel in 1967, is supposed to be, along with the Gaza Strip, home to the Palestinian state. World powers, including the United States, see the two-state solution as the solution to end the 68-year-old conflict.

The agreement would see a wildcat Jewish outpost in the West Bank, known as Amona, removed from the bill.

Amona, where around 40 families live, is under a court order to be evacuated by 25 December since it was built on Palestinian land.

Some members of Netanyahu's coalition had previously said they could not support the bill if Amona remained part of it because of the court ruling against it.

The agreement will instead see Amona residents temporarily moved to nearby land that Israeli officials describe as abandoned until a permanent solution is found.

Rights groups, however, say that land is also owned by Palestinians and that the move would violate international law.

The bill's progress so far has alarmed many in the international community.

The UN envoy for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, said the legislation "has the objective of protecting illegal settlements built on private Palestinian property in the West Bank.

"It is a very worrying initiative. I encourage Israeli legislators to reconsider such a move that would have far-reaching legal consequences across the occupied West Bank."

According to settlement watchdog Peace Now, the bill, if Amona is removed, would legalise some 3,881 housing units.

Most of the homes are located in Israeli-approved settlements but were built on Palestinian land. Around 750 are located in outposts which Israel has not yet approved, Peace Now says.