Israel has quietly legalized one of the oldest and largest of the unsanctioned settler enclaves dotting the West Bank, a step denounced by the Palestinians and Israeli activists as a show of bad faith ahead of talks next week between the Israeli leader and President Barack Obama. The dispute over settlements has confounded Washington's attempts to revive Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, mostly on hold since 2008. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to stop construction and the Palestinians say they won't negotiate while Israel unilaterally determines the borders of their state through settlement-building. Now, the question of outposts Israel has not formally sanctioned is coming to a head: The government is under Supreme Court orders to evacuate residents from Migron, a relatively large such enclave, by the end of March. Aware that doing so could badly unsettle the ruling rightist coalition, officials have attempted to avoid a confrontation by persuading residents, so far unsuccessfully, to move to a nearby sanctioned settlement.The stalled talks and dispute over settlements is bound to come up when Netanyahu meets Obama on Monday. Shvut Rachel, home to 95 Israeli families, was established 21 years ago on an area Israel would likely have to withdraw from to make way for a Palestinian state. The settlers grabbed the land without government permission. Now that approval seems at hand. A planning committee last week retroactively legalized 115 apartments already built or under construction in Shvut Rachel, according to government officials.
