Netanyahu pushes Britain to act against threat of 'militant' Iran

He also warned that Israel might face legal action from the International Court of Justice once the bill is enacted. The Israeli premier has been invited to visit the White House on February 15 and had said his discussions with British leaders would focus on how to work with Trump to confront Iran.

The bill would effectively seize privately owned Palestinian land and retroactively give settlers legal rights to build on it. Palestinians would be offered financial compensation or a new plot of land in return.

"The law passed by the Knesset today proves yet again that Israel has no intention of ending its control over the Palestinians or its theft of their land", the group said in a statement.

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog of the Zionist Union said a black flag hung over the "insane law that threatens to destroy Israeli democracy".

Under the new law, settlers can remain on the land if they built there without prior knowledge of Palestinian ownership, or if homes were constructed at the state's instruction.

It will come up, we are told by Downing Street but won't be the focus. Jordan's Minister of Information Mohammed al-Mumani termed the law a "provocation" and stressed that it harms the possibility of the two-state solution and could lead to violent escalation in the region.

"The two-state solution has been dead for decades".

While the vote is scheduled to happen at 10:30 p.m.in Israel, Anat Ben Nun, a spokesperson for Peace Now, an Israeli NGO and activist group aimed at promoting a two-state solution, told Mondoweiss that the vote could still possibly be postponed.

The bill could still be challenged, with Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman saying last week: "The chance that it will be struck down by the Supreme Court is 100 percent".

The UN Middle East envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, called on Israeli MPs to vote against the law, saying it would "greatly diminish the prospects for Arab-Israeli peace".

The bill was hailed as a major victory by the right-wing nationalist parties.

He defended the slogan on his t-shirt by declaring that "Israel is the rightful home for the Jewish people" and that Netanyahu was "a good man". "Unfortunately it will be a tragedy when in some 40 days I am supposed to move for no reason", said Eli Greenberg, a spokesman for the outpost.

There has been widespread speculation about the actual stance of the Israeli PM toward the bill.

The law allows the government to expropriate private land on which Jewish settlers have erected homes.

In remarks at Ben-Gurion International Airport, Netanyahu underlined the opportunity presented at the moment for strengthening ties with the new governments in London and in Washington.

"The Trump administration has not taken an official position on settlement activity and looks forward to continuing discussions, including with Prime Minister Netanyahu when he visits with President Trump later this month", Spicer said. "The Iranians know what I'm talking about and they're testing the boundaries". And as I run the country I think only about our overall national interest and act accordingly. In my view, you don't surprise friends.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister, has pledged to lift all restrictions on building in East Jerusalem, while education minister Naftali Bennett proposed legislation to annex the Ma'aleh Adumim settlement and the so-called E1 area. Emboldened by Mr. Trump's support, Israel has announced more than 5,000 new homes in the West Bank since his inauguration.