With the vote on the bill introduced to save the five Ulpana neighborhood apartment buildings in Beit El set for Wednesday, 16 Sivan 5772, tensions are mounting as proponents are working tenaciously to persuade lawmakers to raise their hands in the affirmative. Barring an extraordinary occurrence, it does not appear at present that the legislation will be voted in.

Today, politicians are speaking of how to save it and what to do, some calling to relocate while others feel there is nothing to be done. No one however is speaking about the day after, and if the law does not pass and the 30 families are being evicted chas v’sholom, and the buildings razed, it delivers a major victory to the enemies of Israel and many feel will have set a destructive precedent into place.

If this legal action succeeds in ousting 30 families from their government approved apartments, needless to say the courts will be flooded with additional lawsuits backed by the Israeli left-wing to do the same elsewhere. Israel’s enemies have learned that what could not be accomplished with gunfire and firebombs can be achieved in the Supreme Court.

But what is not being addressed is what will occur in the Ulpana neighborhood when the Arab owner pushes the limits of Israel’s legal system and announces he now wishes to build and exercise his right to move in. One may assume that if the petitioners have gone this far they will then take it to rest of the way towards filing petitions to move into their homes and live alongside the residents of Beit El, a move that will surely be viewed as objectionable at best, not to mention the security risks.

For MK Yaakov Katz, a founder of Beit El, and his supporters, the picture is painfully clear and should this process result in the eviction of the Jewish families, it could mark the beginning of the dismantling of Jewish communities throughout Yehuda and Shomron chas v’sholom.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)