Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has turned to Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit seeking a solution to prevent the High Court-ordered demolition of the Shomron community of Amona. The court’s deadline for implementing the construction is December 25, 2016. Amona is home to over 40 families, located in the Binyamin Regional Council district of the Shomron, near Yishuv Ofra.

The residents of Amona and supporters have vowed not to permit a second expulsion from the community. Former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon offered Amona residents to relocate, promising to build 139 homes to replace the 39 removed to compensate for relocating. The residents however rejected the offer, explaining Amona will not fall a second time.

The first Amona was destroyed in 2006 but not before bloody confrontations between civilians and police. A number of police were placed on trial after being documented using unjustifiable force on unarmed civilians. Amona supports, which today includes cabinet ministers and Members of Knesset, are calling on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to find a way to bypass the High Court order.

Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) reported on Thursday 2 Rosh Chodesh Tammuz that Lieberman is turning to Mandelblit for assistance.

One of the solutions being contemplated is from the Justice Ministry, to view the land in question as ‘absentee property’ which is being loaned to the people living there. This possible solution the legal experts explain carries many legal problems with it, with some explaining there is no legal way to get out of complying with the High Court ruling.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)