“This land is ours,” says Israel’s top diplomat, citing religious texts – Patrick Strickland

Tzipi Hotovely, Israel’s new deputy foreign minister, vowed to continue building Jewish-only settlements across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in a recent speech to ministry employees. Hotovely is a member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardlineLikud party which returned to power in Israel’s 17 March elections at the head of one of the most right-wing coalition governments in the country’s history. Because Netanyahu is presently serving as …