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Source: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/these-government-measures-are-not-de-facto-annexation/
Israel's Recent Changes in Judea and Samaria Are Not De Facto Annexation
(Times of Israel) Amb. Alan Baker - Israel's security cabinet has approved a set of administrative changes affecting day-to-day governance and law enforcement in the territories. Those who see the changes as a step toward extending Israeli sovereignty through "de facto annexation" misunderstand the concept and legal meaning of annexation, and misread the nature of these administrative actions, as do those who cast the measures as attempts to annex territory in violation of Israel's commitments to the Palestinians and its international legal obligations. Under the Oslo Accords, Israel agreed, and remains obligated, not to take unilateral steps that would change the status of the territories. In the territory under its administration, Israel is duty-bound to ensure public order and to prevent arbitrary obstructions that disrupt day-to-day life. Streamlining legal and administrative procedures, improving planning and oversight, ensuring transparent property purchase and registration, and protecting archaeological sites are all part of Israel's responsibilities under the existing framework. At the same time, nothing prevents private, legitimate, and transparent property transactions conducted lawfully by willing parties. The decision to enable lawful land transactions and not to apply in the territories a distinctly discriminatory and antisemitic Jordanian-era law that barred the sale of land to Jews cannot reasonably be described as "de facto annexation." Annexation is a formal governmental act; it cannot be carried out quietly, "creepingly," or in secret through administrative adjustments. The condemnation by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calling for the reversal of these measures reflects extreme bias and a superficial reading of the facts and legal framework underlying them. The writer, former Legal Adviser and Deputy Director-General of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, heads the international law program at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.