Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has reached a compromise agreement that may avoid another expulsion by the government, this time at Migron. As per the agreement, the residents agree to leave in compliance with a Supreme Court decision and they will be relocated a short distance away on state land, their homes rebuilt by the state.

The draft agreement is critical for the prime minister, whose Likud party is holding primary elections at month’s end, and he is being labeled as the head of another “expulsion government” with the fate of Migron hanging in the balance. The court demands the community be uprooted by the end of March 2012.

Interestingly, Likud Minister Silvan Shalom arrived in Migron today, Tuesday, January 24, 2012, in a showing of support with residents, invited by MK Yaakov Katz. Shalom and Netanyahu political opponents in the same party, similar to the relationship held by Shimon Peres and Yitzchak Rabin in the Labor party.

Residents and settlement leaders are signaling they are not about to leave their homes until the news homes are ready, and this insist that the current yishuv is not dismantled, but that a civilian presence be maintained to keep the Arabs off the area. This they state is a critical point, and while they are willing to relocate, they will not let the community be razed.

While the prime minister is optimistic there are still many areas that can lead to an explosion which may lead to trashing the draft agreement and leading to a confrontation between settlers and the government.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)