Netanyahu to discard ‘Levy Report’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to discard the Levy Report, which legalizes setllement in the West Bank eliminating its characterization in any way as occupation, Israeli newspaper (Haaretz) has revealed. Since the Levy Report was submitted Netanyahu has made great efforts to downplay its conclusions, Haaretz reported from a senior source indicating that his position came due to the Israeli government’s fear of involvement in international complications. The main problem was the report’s finding that the Fourth Geneva Convention, which governs the treatment of occupied territory, does not apply to the West Bank, the source added. According to Haaretz, Israel has always officially held that the Geneva Convention does not apply to the West Bank, but Netanyahu fears that raising the issue now would generate a major international controversy. On the other hand, adopting the rest of the Levy Report without adopting the section discussing whether the West Bank is occupied territory would be construed as a de facto admission that Israel is in fact an occupying power, the newspaper indicated. The report , prepared by a judicial commission headed by retired Israeli judge Edmund Levy, recommends state approval for unauthorized Jewish settlement outposts. It gives Jews the right to live at the West Bank under claims that the area is not occupied, hence according to the Report the Geneva Convention does not apply.