MKs Dov Khenin and Mohammad Barakeh (Hadash) plans to introduce a law that would require special Knesset approval for any transfers of funds Israeli settlements in the Palestinian occupied territories. The law would require such approval for any outlays made outside the official borders of the State of Israel – and since the West Bank is, under Israeli law, “administered territory” and not under Israeli civil jurisdiction, the law would apply to spending in the occupied territories.

MKs Khenin and Barakeh during a Hadash’s demonstration in Tel-Aviv for an independent Palestinian state, June 2011 (Photo: Hadash)

MK Khenin said that the law made a great deal of sense, especially at a time when the government is cutting spending and imposing economic austerity measures on the public. MK Khenin plans to demand a meeting of the Knesset Finance Committee to discuss the unfair and opaque government investments in the settlements.