Some 450 Jewish settlers returned Sunday night to their homes in the outpost Evyatar, following the drive-by murder of two Jewish brothers in Huwara (Settlers Avenge Murder of Yaniv Brothers: 1 Arab Dead, 390 Injured, Huwara Set on Fire, 30 Evacuated).
According to an agreement between the Israeli government and the residents of Evyatar, the residents––53 families––vacated the place on Friday, July 2, 2021, in the afternoon, and it was taken over by the IDF, without the demolition of the buildings. It was agreed that the status of the land would be examined by the Civil Administration, and if it passes, a yeshiva would be established there alongside homes for the yeshiva staff and the students, to be followed eventually by a full civilian presence.
In October 2021, the Civil Administration completed its survey and declared that approximately 15 acres of the Evyatar settlement were state lands where a legal settlement could be established. However, despite the survey’s findings, the state lands were never declared as such, because the promises of Defense Minister Benny Gantz who made the promise to the settlers when he served in Netanyahu’s government, were disregarded by Defense Minister Benny Gantz who served in the Lapid government.
On February 2, 2022, on his last day in office, AG Avichai Mandelblit approved the outline according to which the Evyatar lands would be declared state lands. And that was the last we’ve heard on the issue of the security apparatus keeping its promises.
Back to Sunday night: the road leading to the Evyatar outpost is blocked by a manned IDF checkpoint, but it isn’t clear why the checkpoint was breached by 450 excited Jews. Perhaps the soldiers were ordered to join the force that was attempting to control the avenging settlers in Huwara (Settlers Avenge Murder of Yaniv Brothers: 1 Arab Dead, 390 Injured, Huwara Set on Fire, 30 Evacuated). In any event, dozens of security forces eventually arrived on the scene and reportedly tried to evacuate the returning settlers, but in the end, did not evacuate anyone until the morning hours.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir appealed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, asking him to allow the settlers to stay at the outpost which has all but been legally regulated. Here’s the full text of Ben Gvir’s letter:
Subject: Evyatar – to be turned into a permanent settlement
- I appeal to you regarding the settlement of Evyatar regarding which the coalition agreement has determined that it must be regulated and about which there is no conflict among the government factions.
- As we all know, last night dedicated citizens ascended to the settlement, in response to the harrowing attack yesterday in which the brothers Halel Menachem and Yagel Yaakov Yaniv H’yd of Har Bracha were murdered.
- In my view, the response to the attack must be, first and foremost, a strong arm against terrorism, such as, for instance, the Death Penalty to Terrorists bill (submitted by Limor Sonn Har Melech of my faction) which was approved yesterday by the Ministerial Legislative Committee, for which I am grateful to you.
- At the same time, there are no disagreements over the fact that strengthening the settlement enterprise is another important tool in the struggle against terrorism, alongside the strong arm treatment.
- Therefore, and since in any case there is an agreement regarding the settlement in question as stated above, it would be proper in terms of rightfulness and justice to allow the righteous citizens who ascended to remain in the place.
The Yesh Din NGO, which receives its funding from the European Union, United Kingdom, Norwegian Refugee Council, Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, HEKS (Switzerland), Norway, Ireland, Germany, and Oxfam Novib (Netherlands) – NIS 6.9 million ($1.87 million) in 2020, Issued a message in response to the return of the Jews to their homes in Evyatar: “The State of Israel makes revenge an official policy – unrestrained pogroms in Huwara, Bוrin, Yassuf, and Salafit, more than 100 injured and now also an illegal settlement in Evyatar. All this under the auspices of the state – the government and the security forces allow this horror.”
Oh, the humanity: Jews settle on their legally obtained land.
Incidentally, Evyatar was initially established in 2013, in memory of Evyatar Borovsky, an Israeli actor who was murdered in an attack at Tapuach Junction in Samaria.
