For the former resident of Amona, it will be a difficult Pesach as they remain homeless despite promises from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to the contrary. The families have recently learned that despite the personal promise made by Prime Minister Netanyahu to resettle them in a new community in the Gush Shilo area, legal issues exist that are preventing this from moving ahead. The work on the new community was to have begun no later than 31 March 2017.

According to a Yediot Achronot report, the establishment of a temporary community for the former Amona residents requires the signature of an IDF major-general due to the nature of the law in Yehuda and Shomron. This however is just a procedural component that can be met easily.

However, the government’s legal expert over Yehuda and Shomron, attorney Eyal Toledano, is opposed to this move and he is preventing it. He expressed his opposition during a high-level meeting on the matter last week. Without the signature, nothing is moving forward towards establishing their new temporary home.

Officials in the IDF’s Civil Administration are suggesting taking the usual route, which includes presenting the plans for a new city/yishuv without addressing a temporary community. This new permanent community would permit constructing permanent homes from the onset as opposed to the usual, where people move into caravans or another form of temporary home when a yishuv is established. This method however, is considerably longer than the first, which entails having a major-general sign the necessary documents to permit the establishment of a temporary community.

The Yediot report quotes a “settlement leader” expressing shock over these new developments on the backs of families who signed an agreement with the nation’s leader in good will, and today, they are homeless.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)