The High Court of Justice on Wednesday morning accepted the request of the state and the residents of Netiv Ha’Avot for a three-month delay in executing its ruling ordering the demolition of 15 homes in the Gush Etzion neighborhood. The request will give the state time to complete construction work on a temporary residential neighborhood for the deportees.
Justices Esther Hayut, Hanan Melcer and Uzi Fogelman stressed that their ruling was a gesture beyond the letter of the law, and criticized the state for not using the year and a half it had been given to prepare alternative housing for the residents.
The justices also emphasized the commitment made by the residents of Netiv Ha’Avot to evacuate without resistance when the time comes, and to prevent opponents of the destruction from entering the neighborhood to protest.
Along with the confirmation of the request for a delay, the justices once again rejected a request to demolish only the parts that are not on state land in the six homes in question.
The government has approved, in principle, the construction of 350 housing units, concurrent with the works to prepare the temporary housing in Netiv Ha’avot. The cost is estimated to be $17 million.
Perhaps in the future the high court will consider how many Israelis are being hurt each time they rule in favor of some dubious Arab claim against Israeli government approved settlements.
Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Habayit Hayehudi) issued a statement thanking the extreme left organizations for their success in establishing a new settlement in Judea and Samaria that cannot be uprooted anymore.”
“Every house that will be evacuated because of the petitions of the extreme left will generate a new settlement,” they promised.
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman stated, “I welcome the decision of the High Court of Justice, which accepted our position and delayed the evacuation of the homes in Netiv Ha’Avot. The High Court’s decision will enable us to complete the dialogue with the residents and reach an agreement on the outline.”
Nativ Ha’avot residents welcomed the postponement, but at the same time declared that the struggle was not over. “The High Court of Justice did what was asked of it by complying with the state’s request to postpone the destruction at least until there is a humanitarian solution,” the residents’ headquarters said in a statement, “However, the struggle of the residents of Netiv Ha’Avot will not end until they return to permanent homes in the neighborhood.”