Residents of Yishuv Ofra, located in the Benjamin Regional Council district of Shomron, are stepping up efforts to save nine homes, which have been ordered destroyed by Israel’s High Court of Justice.

Shai Ben-Yosef, who heads the Yishuv Ofra action committee remains optimistic while admitting time is running out regarding efforts to prevent the destruction of nine homes in the Shomron community.

Ben-Yosef told the dati leumi Srugim website another protest is planned for Sunday 12 Cheshvan during which participants will call to accept the report released by former Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy and accept the bill to legalize Amona. The Levy Committee, headed by late Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy, called to legalize outposts in Yehuda and Shomron because they do not violate international law as some believe to be the case.

They are also calling to accept the bill which hopes to bypass a High Court ruling compelling the expulsion of over forty families from Amona and to dismantle the community, which is located adjacent to Ofra. The bill has already been approved by the Ministerial Law Committee.

They call out to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to act first to save Amona, which has to be destroyed by the end of December 2016 as per the High Court ruling. They gave until February 2017 to find a solution to save the nine Ofra homes, which have also been ordered destroyed as the High Court accepted petitions stating the nine homes and Amona were constructed on private Palestinian land.

It is added the residents of Amona were offered to relocate to new homes at the government’s expense but they refused, insisting Amona will not fall again.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)