Yesha Council members have voted unanimously to accept a deal with the national government calling for relocating the Benjamin Regional Council District community of Migron, in Shomron. Perhaps one of the major snags in the deal is that the residents of Migron reject the deal, stating that despite the Yesha Council endorsement, they have no intention of moving out of their homes to relocate elsewhere.

Interestingly, the government continues to refer to the community of approximately 40 families as an ‘outpost’ despite the fact they live in homes, and there is every semblance of a legitimate community. This is in addition to the fact that the community was approved by former prime minister Ariel Sharon, but the government seems to prefer to accept the definition of the United States, referring to Migron as illegal, since it was established after 2001, the limit set by the White House for communities in Yehuda and Shomron. Even more surprising is the fact that the Council of Settlements agreed to the government plan a number of days after the Benjamin Regional Council vetoed it, rejecting the call to move it to another location to appease the PA (Palestinian Authority).

Working against the community is a Supreme Court ruling in a case filed by left-wing activists, who claimed the community established in 2002 sits on Arab land. Migron argued the land was legally purchased through a third-party Arab agent, but the court ruled in favor of the left-wingers and the Arabs, ordering the community removed.

The IDF argues the community, as well as many of the yishuvim throughout Yehuda and Shomron, sits atop a hill, providing a strategic advantage from a security standpoint.

The agreement approved by the Yesha leaders states the community will not be closed until such time the new community is established, a process that is expected to take a number of years. The Defense Ministry is expected to announce the new location for Migron within a month.

Yariv Oppenheim of the radical left-wing Peace Now organization is accusing the “settlers and the Defense Ministry of stalling to buy time” adding “at the current pace, the removal of Migron will drag on for years”.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)