UAE slams Israel for partial repeal of disengagement law | Jewish Press – JewishPress.com | Hana Levi Julian | 5 Nisan 5783 – March 26, 2023

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On Sunday, the United Arab Emirates slammed Israel’s decision to repeal parts of the 2005 Disengagement Law that led to the expulsion of nearly 10,000 Israelis from their homes in Gush Katif and Northern Samaria.

The UAE was the first signatory to the historic 2020 Abraham Accords, which normalized diplomatic relations with the state of Israel.

Last week, the Knesset overturned parts of the law that specifically applied to four destroyed Jewish communities in northern Samaria, including the town of Homsh, where a synagogue was restored and still stands.

In a statement issued by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Abu Dhabi “strongly condemns Israel’s decision to allow resettlement in the northern West Bank and to authorize the construction of new settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the UAE official said. WAM news agency reports.

The latter refers to the overcrowded township-approved housing units in Efrat and Beitar Illit in Gush Etzion. All planned housing units will be built within the existing municipal boundaries of each town.

But in its statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) affirmed that the UAE “rejects all practices that violate resolutions of international legitimacy and threaten to further escalate and destabilize the situation in the region.”

The UAE also stressed the “need to support all regional and international efforts to advance the Middle East peace process and end the illegal practices that threaten the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

The UAE is not alone in condemning Israel’s move. The US also called the decision “provocative” and a violation of a promise made to the Bush administration in 2005.

However, an Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, denied the U.S. allegations.

“There was no breach of any of Israel’s obligations to the United States,” the official said. The repeal applies only to the former sites that prohibited Israelis from moving to the former towns of Homesh, Sa-Nur, Kadim and Ganim, and does not involve any new settlement construction.