oute 443
The Ministerial Committee on Legislation will discuss Sunday, February 07'th 2010, a proposed bill that would see Route 443 annexed by Israel, thereby automatically allowing only Israelis to use it.
The bill was proposed by MK Moshe Matalon ( of Yisrael Beitenu Party ) and supported by 17 additional lawmakers. According to a recent High Court ruling Route 443 was due to be opened to Palestinians within about three months. Since then, various political figures have...
more »oute 443
The Ministerial Committee on Legislation will discuss Sunday, February 07'th 2010, a proposed bill that would see Route 443 annexed by Israel, thereby automatically allowing only Israelis to use it.
The bill was proposed by MK Moshe Matalon ( of Yisrael Beitenu Party ) and supported by 17 additional lawmakers. According to a recent High Court ruling Route 443 was due to be opened to Palestinians within about three months. Since then, various political figures have called for a law that would get around the court's decision.
The explanatory pages to the proposed bill note that the need for the law has arisen in the wake of the ruling, which determines that a road that has seen shooting attacks on Israelis in the past must be available to Palestinian use.
Supporters of the bill claim that opening Route 443 to Palestinians will mean that thousands of Israelis will avoid using it, and those who continue to drive on this road will be putting their lives in danger.
The Transportation Ministry warned that if drivers taking Route 443 are not protected, following a High Court ruling that the road should be opened to Palestinian traffic, Highway 1 from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem will suffer from serious traffic jams.
The discussed road segment was closed to Palestinian traffic on October 2000, when the al-Aqsa Intifada broke out, following an order issued by then Binyamin Territorial Brigade Commander Gal Hirsch.
The High Court of Justice last month accepted a petition by heads of Palestinian villages situated on Route 443, in which they demand the right to travel by this road. The new orders will come into effect in five months.
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