Following the petition filed by the Regavim Movement against illegal construction and the UN invasion of land in Jerusalem, the District Court ruled that until the conclusion of the diplomatic negotiations that have been held for more than a year, construction must halt.

The Jerusalem District Court ruled this week that until a coordination mechanism is established between the state and the UN, the UN will not begin any work on the site. As noted, a petition submitted by the Regavim movement in March 2017 revealed that the UN had committed a large number of building offenses in the Armon HaNatziv compound and that it had invaded dozens of dunams of state land beyond the area allocated to it by the State of Israel.

After the submission of the petition, the state admitted that extensive building offenses had indeed been committed and that it would conduct diplomatic negotiations to formulate a coordination mechanism regarding the UN building plans in the area. The state’s updated announcement said this week that “the diplomatic contacts are taking a long time, so that the coordination mechanism that the parties are working on has not yet been formulated,” but the talks are held “to the satisfaction of the state.”

The Regavim movement notes that the diplomatic contacts began more than a year ago, and the end is not in sight, indicating that the parties are not close to agreements.

Justice Oded Shacham accepted the state’s update, and determined that another update on contacts between the sides would be given in November. Until then, the UN will not begin any new work on the site.

Regavim welcomed the decision. “The diplomatic immunity of the UN does not allow it to violate the laws of the host country,” says Attorney Avi Segal of Regavim, who added, “Until the petition was filed with the court, the UN did as it pleased, without state consent”.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)