In an expected move, the High Court of Justice on Sunday rejected a petition seeking a temporary injunction to halt the implementation of the government-ordered building freeze throughout Yehuda and Shomron.

Justice Asher Grunis ruled a decision by a Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense subcommittee calling on the government to halt implementation of the construction freeze throughout Yehuda and Shomron does not warrant a temporary injunction.

Last week, the court rejected another request for a temporary injunction filed by heads of local municipalities and yishuvim throughout Yehuda and Shomron.

In the latest petition, filed by the Land of Israel Forum and represented by attorney Yossi Fuchs, petitioners believed the call from the subcommittee might carry some weight with the court, which it did not.

Subcommittee members felt that prior to the implementation of the government decree, there should have been a period during which the ramifications of the decision are explained. In addition, a mechanism by which affected people are compensated should be set into motion prior to halting construction. Both recommendations were ignored by the government.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)