JERUSALEM (AP) — A new Israeli law legalizing dozens of unlawfully built West Bank settlement outposts came under heavy criticism on Tuesday from some of Israel's closest allies, as local rights groups prepared to ask the Supreme Court to overturn the measure. Amid the uproar, the Trump administration remained quiet about the law — paving the way for further possible action by emboldened Israeli hard-liners ahead of a trip to the White House by Israel's prime minister next week. Proponents claimed the communities, home to thousands of people and in some cases decades old, were built in "good faith" and quietly backed by a string of Israeli governments. In Paris, Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said the law puts "the last nail in the coffin of the two-state solution" and accused the Israeli government of "trying to legalize looting Palestinian land." Prominent Israeli advocacy groups, including Peace Now, the Arab rights group Adalah, and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, all announced plans to file legal challenges. In breakaway northern Cyprus, attempts by Turkish Cypriot authorities to issue ownership certificates for property seized from displaced Greek Cypriots have been struck down in European courts. The Jewish Home party, which has ties to the settler movement, put heavy pressure on Netanyahu to allow Monday's vote after the court-ordered demolition last week of the illegal outpost of Amona. Trump's campaign platform made no mention of a Palestinian state, departing from two decades of American policy, his designated ambassador to Israel is a settler ally, and a delegation of settler leaders was invited to his inauguration. According to Peace Now, which closely monitors settlement activity, officials are scheduled to meet Wednesday to push for an additional 1,200 settlement homes.
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