Supreme Court President Esther Hayut on Tuesday informed the Defense and Justice Ministries that the hearing set for next Monday on the issue of the evacuation of the Homesh settlement will take place as scheduled, ignoring the state’s request to postpone the hearing until March, when the incoming government could respond to the court’s assertions.
In 2005, the homes of Homesh were demolished along with three other settlements in northern Samaria, as part of the Ariel Sharon government’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip. But unlike the Gaza settlements that were abandoned and soon were burned down by Arab mobs, the Israeli government had enough sense not to hand over Homesh and its environs to the Palestinian Authority. And so, starting in Hanukkah of 2006, Jews started coming back to Homesh and setting up temporary structures, only to be uprooted time and again by security forces.
Following a tense confrontation of local Jews with the Lapid-Bennett-Gantz government over the fate of Homesh, especially after the murder by Arab terrorists of a Homesh yeshiva student, the High Court was going to rule on the future of the settlement. However, in doing so, the court is trying to evade the clear intent of the incoming government, which is anchored in the coalition agreements, to reverse the 2005 Disengagement Act and encourage the resettlement of northern Samaria.
This rush to judgment clearly paints President Hayut as a political player seeking confrontation with the new government. Should the High Court rule that Homesh must remain vacated, a new government law that reverses this ruling would inevitably be considered an override of the Court’s decision, fanning the flames of war between the court and the majority of lawmakers.
Any government decision regarding Homesh would also inevitably raise the ire of international players, who are already engaged in smearing Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria as colonialist occupation, seeing as the IDF has ruled the area since 1967, almost 56 years. But then again, RZP Chairman Bezalel Smotrich, who will serve as an adjunct minister in the defense ministry, will take over the civil administration in Judea and Samaria, perhaps altering the claim of “military occupation.” As an adjunct minister, Smotrich could rule on Homesh despite the court’s decision. At the same time, in his coalition agreement with PM-designate Netanyahu, the latter maintains a veto right over the former’s decisions.
And Justice Hayut has just stepped on this light-trigger landmine, literally hours before the government is changing.
The smartest move would be for the government’s attorney to ask the court for an extension, to give them a chance to prepare a response. Should Hayut refuse, we will know with certainty that she is on a war path.
