(30 Jan 2017) As the Israeli Knesset prepared to vote on a bill that may legalise dozens of West Bank settlement outposts, an Israeli human rights organisation on Monday accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of seeking to distract the public from corruption allegations.
"Netanyahu is trying to change the public debate in Israel to divert the conversation away from his investigations, from the corruption allegations that he is dealing with," said Anat Ben Nun, director of external relations of Peace Now.
Police have interrogated Netanyahu several times "under caution" over questionable ties to top executives in the media, international business and Hollywood.
There are about 100 outposts across the West Bank that Israel considers illegal but tolerates and often allows to flourish.
The bill is being pushed by the pro-settler Jewish Home party, which has threatened to quit Netanyahu's coalition if it doesn't go through.
On Monday demonstrators protested outside the Israeli Knesset and called for Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank.
The bill was cited as one of the reasons the Obama administration allowed a United Nations Security Council resolution to pass that challenged the legality of the settlements.
US officials said that after previously vetoing anti-Israel resolutions, they felt compelled to abstain because of continued Israeli settlement construction and efforts to retroactively legalise dozens of them in exchange for compensation for the original Palestinian landowners.

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