A motion that was filed with the High Court of Justice earlier this week by a number of residents of Beit El’s Ulpana neighborhood was withdrawn. The motion was filed by the Land of Israel Legal Forum together with a couple that lives in one of the buildings slated for demolition. It appears that they came to the realization that the chance of the motion being accepted was slim to none, prompting their decision.
They were asking the court to order a postponement of the demolition order but pressure from MKs and others compelled them to back down, fearing the petition may have a negative impact on the Ulpana issue.
While to date state officials have indicated the Arab owner of the land is unwilling to address any form of compromise, insisting the Jewish buildings are destroyed, sources in the Prime Minister’s Office are signaling the owner may be willing to address a financial settlement.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has stated that finding a solution to prevent the demolition of the Ulpana neighborhood homes remains a high priority for the new coalition, that now stands 94 Knesset seats strong.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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One Response
“The Arab owner”?! You mean the Arab who claims to be the owner. His claim has not been tested in any court; he has presented no evidence. He just says it’s his, and that’s enough for the Bagatz. The Jewish owners say they did their due diligence and much more before buying the land; since they are muchzakim there is a legal presumption that they are correct, and it’s up to the Arab claimant to prove otherwise.
Netanyahu swore at the graves of Etta and Efrayim Tzur that this neigbourhood will never ever be evacuated. It’s within his power to keep that oath; all he has to do is nothing. He has to sit on his hands and refrain from instructing government employees to carry out the court order. It’s as simple as that. The only positive thing he must do is to order his defense minister to do likewise. If the Ulpana buildings are destroyed, Netanyahu will (again) be forsworn, and exposed as a man without honour.