Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has announced plans to build hundreds more settler homes on Palestinian land, even after the Israeli parliament rejected a bill to retroactively legalize existing homes.

Netanyahu had called for members of the Knesset to reject the bill, voted down on Wednesday by 69 votes to 22, on the grounds that it could have prompted an international backlash against the settler movement.

But he said later that he would not allow people to “use the legal system to harm the settlement movement," and announced plans to add 300 new homes to Beit El, near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

"Beit El will be expanded. The 30 families will remain in Beit El, and 300 new families will join them," Netanyahu said in remarks broadcast on public radio.

Israel differentiates between "legal" settlements and "illegal" outposts, but the international community views all settlements on occupied territory as a violation of international law.

Netanyahu’s announcement was condemned by a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas who said the decision to Beit El would hinder peace efforts.

US ‘condemnation’

The US State Department said that continued Israeli settlement activity “undermines peace efforts and contradicts Israeli commitments and obligations”.

"You know, our position on settlements remains unchanged. We do not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity," said spokesman Mark Toner.

Wednesday’s bill in the Knesset was an attempt by settlers and their supporters in parliament to circumvent a supreme court ruling ordering the removal of five buildings from a settlement outpost known as the Ulpana neighborhood by July 1.

The bill sought to offer compensation to Palestinians whose private land had been taken over by settlers rather than returning their land, if they had not lodged a legal demand to evacuate the land within four years of the settlement.

Hundreds of settlers had marched to Jerusalem over three days to support the bill, reported Al Jazeera's Nadim Baba.

"They carry banners saying 'if you're not with us, you're against us'. That's the message to politicians, particularly to Prime Minister Netanyahu." he said.

"What everyone is wondering is exactly how far it [the vote] will lead to a split within the prime minister's own party."

Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians broke down three years ago, and the Palestinians refuse to restart negotiations until Israel freezes settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The Palestinians claim both areas, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, for a future state.
Netanyahu says talks should resume without any preconditions and has refused calls for a full settlement freeze.

PHOTO CAPTION

View of the Jewish settlement of Har Homa near the West Bank town of Bethlehem.

Al-Jazeera