Opposition leader and Zionist Union chairman Yitzchak Herzog criticized the Regulation Law, which will be brought for its second and third readings in the Knesset tonight.
"The Regulation law is a very serious danger to Israel," Herzog said at the start of the Zionist Union faction meeting Monday. "This law creates a de facto annexation, which is contrary to all of Israel's international agreements. It is because of this law that the resolution against Israel was adopted by the UN Security Council."
The Regulation Law legalizes the status of Jewish communities built, bona fide, with the help of the government on land that was unclaimed, untouched and on which no taxes were paid at least since 1967, but which may at some point be claimed by a Palestinian as his private land once Jewish construction has taken place. In the case of proof of ownership, the claimant will receive 125% of the value of the land.
"It has never happened before in the history of the State that the Knesset voted in opposition to the laws of the State, in stark contrast to the views of senior legal advisers in government and against international law." Herzog added.
Herzog called on the coalition to shoulder their responsibilities, as he put it, and resist the Regulation Law. "I urge Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon especially, and the haredi parties, and anyone who sees what is good for the country; you are lending a hand to the terrible complications Israel faces under international law."
"My colleagues and I will resist this move with all our might. It will lead to the annexation of millions of Palestinians, the elimination of the Zionist dream, the destruction of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, and will commemorate 50 years of bloodshed in the region. We will use every tool at our disposal." Herzog declared.
Herzog attacked the right-wing government. "Israel has in recent months become the banana republic of the Middle East. The right-wing government under the leadership of Binyamin Netanyahu has become a failed police state which is destroying Israeli democracy, involved in corruption, and shows instability."