Only a few months ago, the law was believed to have little chance of coming up for a vote. Under the law, Palestinian landowners will be offered compensation for the long-term use of their property but will not be able to reclaim it. The vote on Monday, which passed, 60 to 52, retroactively legalized several thousand housing units in 16 settlements on about 2,000 acres of Palestinian-owned land. Opponents said the law would encourage more settlements on Palestinian land, with the expectation that they, too, would be legalized. On one hand, she noted that her first meeting with Mr. Netanyahu came 100 years after the Balfour Declaration, in which the British government governing the area supported the creation of Jewish state.

Source: New York Times February 06, 2017 22:43 UTC