Netanyahu has announced the immediate building of hundreds of new homes in the occupied territories: “the construction of 10 housing units for each home that was evacuated would enable 1,000 more residents to live in Beit El, and would deter opponents of settlements from petitioning the court.” This was Netanyahu's response to a an Israeli Supreme Court decision that forced him to dismantle five houses that were built on land privately owned by Palestinians.
Indeed, it quickly became more than 10 houses for each one dismantled. Within a week, the Israeli government has announced the building of 851 houses as a retaliatory measure for having to dismantle five.
The Israeli peace movement Peace Now has successfully appealed to the Supreme Court and the Israeli government is kicking and screaming. Netanyahu wants
to deter Israeli citizens from approaching a court of law for justice and
found a solution: collective punishment to those who approached the court
combined with even more settlements in the occupied territories.
Even if this does not fall into the legal definition of collective
punishment, it is just as ugly.
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