Israel’s Cabinet Moves to Cement Control over West Bank, Drawing Sharp EU Condemnation

Israel’s security cabinet has approved a set of controversial legal and administrative measures that effectively deepen Israeli control over the occupied West Bank, triggering fierce international backlash, including a clear rebuke from the European Union.

The decisions, championed by far-right ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, drastically lower barriers to land acquisition by Israeli settlers and expand enforcement powers over Palestinians living in territory the international community regards as occupied under international law.

Under the newly approved framework, Israeli settlers will face far fewer obstacles when buying West Bank land, including repealing Jordan-era restrictions and opening land registries that critics warn will facilitate settler acquisitions of Palestinian private property. The cabinet also grants Israeli authorities expanded powers to enforce laws — including demolition orders and administrative actions — in areas previously under Palestinian Authority governance.

Bezalel Smotrich says the moves will ‘fundamentally change the legal and civil reality’ in the West Bank and the measures are intended to bury ‘idea of a Palestinian state’.

EU Denounces ‘Wrong Direction’ and Illegal Control Measures

On Monday, the European Union publicly condemned the Israeli measures, calling them “another step in the wrong direction” that expand Israeli control in the occupied West Bank and pave the way for accelerated settlement building. EU spokesperson Anouar El Anouni said the bloc “condemns recent decisions by Israel’s security cabinet,” warning they undermine peace efforts.

The EU’s critique underscores mounting European frustration over Israeli policies that critics say erode any remaining prospects for a two-state solution and violate established norms of international law by entrenching a civil-military legal bifurcation that privileges settlers while subjecting Palestinians to military rule.

Simultaneously, foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and other allied states warned that the decisions violate international law and represent a direct assault on the Palestinians’ right to statehood. These governments reaffirmed that Israel has no legitimate sovereignty over the occupation territories and that such unilateral steps undermine regional stability and peace.

The cabinet measures are the newest instalment in a long-running pattern of settlement entrenchment. Under Netanyahu’s latest tenure, Israel has already moved to legalize settlement outposts, expand housing units in existing settlements, and transfer planning powers from Palestinian authorities to Israeli civil bodies — actions consistently condemned by international legal experts as violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

©TNPP