JERUSALEM, April 17 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Tuesday the Cabinet will be asked to vote next week to legalize three West Bank outposts.
Netanyahu told a Likud Party faction meeting the Cabinet would be asked to authorize the status of Bruchin, Rehalim and Sansana, The Jerusalem Post said.
"Today, I instructed that the status of three communities -- Bruchin, Sansana and Rehalim -- be provided for. ... I also asked Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein to see to it that the Ulpana hill in Beit El not be evacuated," the Post quoted Netanyahu as saying.
Although Netanyahu's government has authorized a number of outposts by making them neighborhoods of existing settlements, it is the first time Netanyahu has publicly stated his intention to legalize Jewish homes in the West Bank by creating a new settlement, the newspaper said.
The three outposts were established on state land from 1991 to 1999 but were never recognized as settlements by the government, the Post said.
At Netanyahu's request, the attorney-general will examine the legal issue involving authorization prior to a Cabinet vote, a statement released by Weinstein's office said.
