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Related: About this forumHundreds of settlers clash with police in Beit El
Settlers clash with police in Beit El over decision to tear down Draynoff buildingsOfficials join families in defiantly repopulating Sa-Nur, a settlement abandoned in the disengagement, as youths battle security forces for control of Beit El near Ramallah.
Itay Blumenthal, Eti Abramov
Latest Update: 07.29.15, 00:36 / Israel News
Settlers clashed with Border Police and police forces throughout the day in the West Bank settlement of Beit El, as security forces kept hundreds of settlers from occupying the Draynoff buildings, two housing structures which the High Court ordered be torn down Sunday night.
Clashes continued into the night on Tuesday, after several hours of calm. Right-wing activists pelted Border Police and Yasam forces with stones, and physically confronted the troops. The rioters set a trash container on fire and threw a police barricade inside. Some tried to break into the Draynoff buildings repeatedly, momentarily breaking through police barricades, but were pushed back by Border Police.
The head of the regional council encouraged the protesters to break into the buildings. "Unfortunately, someone is trying to take advantage of the situation and tear down the buildings now, while we could sort it out in the morning... the difference is between 1am and 7am. Pick up the phone, bring your mom and dad here to come with truth in their hearts. If the buildings go down, the government should too."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4684756,00.html
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Hundreds of settlers clash with police in Beit El (Original Post)
Israeli
Jul 2015
OP
Watch: Settlers, police clash as state demolishes illegal structures in Beit El
bemildred
Jul 2015
#12
Israeli
(4,151 posts)1. Israeli ministers vs.the rule of law.....
When the prime minister, defense minister, education minister and justice minister are all working against the highest court in the land, it shows Israel is not ruled by law, certainly not when it comes to what happens beyond the Green Line.
Haaretz Editorial | Jul. 29, 2015 | 2:45 AM
The two buildings in the West Bank settlement of Beit El that were the focus of Tuesday’s disturbances by settlers were built on privately owned Palestinian land. A demolition order for the structures was issued as far back as 2010. After excessively prolonged deliberations, the High Court of Justice ruled that they must be razed by the end of July. In a country ruled by law, it’s clear what would have happened next: The buildings would have been demolished, with the backing of the prime minister and his senior ministers.
But when the prime minister, the defense minister, the education minister and the justice minister are all in effect working against the highest court in the land, it sends the clear message that Israel is not ruled by law, certainly not when it comes to what happens beyond the Green Line. The incident in Beit El, as well as the one on the site of the former settlement of Sa-Nur yesterday, were testament to a new kind of separation of powers: The Knesset, that is the legislative branch, selects an executive branch – the cabinet — that stands in opposition to the law that the third branch, the judiciary, is authorized to interpret and to command its enforcement.
The outburst by Habayit Hayehudi chairman Naftali Bennett (“The defense minister has been dragged into the extremism and the agitation”) can be understood as part of his effort to demonstrate his loyalty to his settler constituents. But Bennett is also the education minister, and it is odd for the person responsible for inculcating democratic values in the younger generation to be openly undermining the law and the court. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, in asking the court, on behalf of the state, to “prevent the destruction,” also makes a mockery of her title, emptying it of all content.
But make no mistake: Despite the plethora of condemnations hurled at Moshe Ya’alon from the right side of the political map, the defense minister is the one who has been working for weeks to try to legalize the buildings and get the court to reverse its ruling. In addition to the hasty permit issued for the buildings last Wednesday by the Civil Administration in the West Bank, which is under his authority, Ya’alon understood that an evacuation would merely increase the chances that the court would accept the contractor’s petition to annul the demolition order.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as usual in such situations, is trying to walk a tightrope by repeating his well-known refrain, meant to curry favor with the settlers and their supporters (“We’re working to strengthen the settlements”) without completely shattering the statesmanlike guise he likes to don (“and we’re doing so while obeying the law”). But all of the government’s activities over the Green Line, and certainly its embrace of the settlers, constitute an abandonment of its supreme obligation to uphold the law and enforce its authority.
It must be hoped that the High Court will once again make clear to the state that these buildings must be destroyed, and in addition, that the executive branch will implement the court’s ruling. At a time like this, one would also expect the attorney general to make his voice heard loud and clear, position himself on the side of the law and take action against the ministers who are working against the court’s ruling.
Source: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.668368
NB : No paywall.
Haaretz Editorial | Jul. 29, 2015 | 2:45 AM
The two buildings in the West Bank settlement of Beit El that were the focus of Tuesday’s disturbances by settlers were built on privately owned Palestinian land. A demolition order for the structures was issued as far back as 2010. After excessively prolonged deliberations, the High Court of Justice ruled that they must be razed by the end of July. In a country ruled by law, it’s clear what would have happened next: The buildings would have been demolished, with the backing of the prime minister and his senior ministers.
But when the prime minister, the defense minister, the education minister and the justice minister are all in effect working against the highest court in the land, it sends the clear message that Israel is not ruled by law, certainly not when it comes to what happens beyond the Green Line. The incident in Beit El, as well as the one on the site of the former settlement of Sa-Nur yesterday, were testament to a new kind of separation of powers: The Knesset, that is the legislative branch, selects an executive branch – the cabinet — that stands in opposition to the law that the third branch, the judiciary, is authorized to interpret and to command its enforcement.
The outburst by Habayit Hayehudi chairman Naftali Bennett (“The defense minister has been dragged into the extremism and the agitation”) can be understood as part of his effort to demonstrate his loyalty to his settler constituents. But Bennett is also the education minister, and it is odd for the person responsible for inculcating democratic values in the younger generation to be openly undermining the law and the court. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, in asking the court, on behalf of the state, to “prevent the destruction,” also makes a mockery of her title, emptying it of all content.
But make no mistake: Despite the plethora of condemnations hurled at Moshe Ya’alon from the right side of the political map, the defense minister is the one who has been working for weeks to try to legalize the buildings and get the court to reverse its ruling. In addition to the hasty permit issued for the buildings last Wednesday by the Civil Administration in the West Bank, which is under his authority, Ya’alon understood that an evacuation would merely increase the chances that the court would accept the contractor’s petition to annul the demolition order.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as usual in such situations, is trying to walk a tightrope by repeating his well-known refrain, meant to curry favor with the settlers and their supporters (“We’re working to strengthen the settlements”) without completely shattering the statesmanlike guise he likes to don (“and we’re doing so while obeying the law”). But all of the government’s activities over the Green Line, and certainly its embrace of the settlers, constitute an abandonment of its supreme obligation to uphold the law and enforce its authority.
It must be hoped that the High Court will once again make clear to the state that these buildings must be destroyed, and in addition, that the executive branch will implement the court’s ruling. At a time like this, one would also expect the attorney general to make his voice heard loud and clear, position himself on the side of the law and take action against the ministers who are working against the court’s ruling.
Source: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.668368
NB : No paywall.
Response to Israeli (Reply #1)
6chars This message was self-deleted by its author.
Israeli
(4,151 posts)4. Who says its ...
" unpopular " ....I'm loving it ....memories of 10 years ago 
Response to Israeli (Reply #4)
6chars This message was self-deleted by its author.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)9. The subject here is Israel. not Norway
I'm sure there is a place on Du to talk about Norway if you want. Not here though, unless it's Norway as pertains to the israel-Palestine conflict.
6chars
(3,967 posts)10. you're just harassing me
and i know it.
i made a reasonable comment putting something core to the thread - the article about rule of law in israel -- in context. you might disagree with that context, but obviously i wasn't talking about norway. you know that.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)18. That was not harassment.
Good grief.
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)20. Pearl clutching has been turned into
An Olympic event in I/P.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)22. It certainly has become an award winning event!nt
bemildred
(90,061 posts)3. Forced removal of 200 Israeli settlers shakes Netanyahu gov’t
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Some 200 young adult demonstrators were removed from two illegal apartment buildings slated for demolition in a West Bank Jewish settlement.
Some 50 demonstrators were arrested, and the rest were dispersed using riot control measures early Tuesday morning in Beit El, which is about 20 miles north of Jerusalem. Hundreds of Israeli police officers were on the scene.
Police reportedly had arrived in Beit El in the early hours of the morning in an attempt to prevent demonstrators from reaching the settlement.
The buildings were found to have been constructed on privately constructed Palestinian land and ordered demolished in 2010. Israel’s Supreme Court gave the state until Thursday to demolish the buildings, known as the Dreinoff neighborhood.
http://www.jta.org/2015/07/28/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/forced-removal-of-200-israeli-settlers-shakes-netanyahu-govt
Israeli
(4,151 posts)5. Shake it baby !!....
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)13. My, my...
I'msurprised that they are going to such great lengths pretending that they follow the rule of law.
I'd put good money down that Nutty takes a dive and let's the buildings stay. Otherwise he is out and if there is another vote the Bennett might come out on top.
Israeli
(4,151 posts)15. In clash with settlers, Netanyahu gets off scot-free as usual
Defense Minister Ya'alon is taking the blame for everything the government is forced to deal with, just like Livni did in the previous government.
By Yossi Verter 18:50 29.07.15
Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who dropped urgent ministry business before the start of the school year, rushed to the West Bank settlement of Beit El. He provided a good description of what has happened there over the past two days: “It doesn’t match the spirit of the government.”
According to the educational message of the leader of the Habayit Hayehudi party, “the spirit of the government” isn’t compatible with the rulings of the High Court of Justice, the rule of law and the legal authority of Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon to enforce order in the territories.
Instead, the spirit of the government is compatible with the unbridled attacks by Tourism Minister Yariv Levin on the High Court justices — representatives of the “radical left” in his words — who ruled that the two unfinished and illegal structures born in sin, crime and without permits on private Palestinian property must be demolished.
A local building dispute in a normal country wouldn’t keep anyone but the contractor, the demolition crew and two bulldozers busy. But now such a dispute is driving the entire governing coalition crazy.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we were told, was awoken at 3:30 A.M. to something that couldn’t be more traumatic: a telephone call from Bennett. Habayit Hayehudi’s threats about “coalition implications” didn’t take long to arrive. As if Bennett, Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked — who has been tricked into becoming their agent — have another government they can join.
Levin and Immigrant Absorption Minister Zeev Elkin, who took a stand to the right of the invaders in Beit El and Sa-Nur and rushed to condemn the eviction, represent the settler supporters in Likud. Acting properly like a public official is beyond them. It’s no surprise the lawbreakers remained at the sites and continued to clash with the police. They realized somebody had their back.
Ya’alon in normal times — if there is such a thing — goes well out of his way to legalize and sanitize all the impurities in the West Bank. But he’s still committed to some norms of proper government and has became a common leftist — according to his ministerial colleagues.
Because of their fears of attacking Netanyahu directly — his word is law — they chose an easier target, Ya’alon. This wasn’t the first time Ya’alon realized that no matter what he does for the settlers, he will always owe them more. They will always deserve another portion.
And we can only imagine what would have happened if Zionist Union leaders Isaac Herzog (widely known as Bougie) and Tzipi Livni were part of the government today. What a volley of invective they would have suffered.
Netanyahu, as usually happens in such cases, emerged without a scratch. This time Ya’alon — his nickname is Bogie — was his bulletproof vest. In the previous government, Livni usually played this role between Netanyahu and his party’s right wing — taking the blame for all the horrible things in their eyes that the government was forced to deal with.
One time its Tzipi, this time its Bogie, and if it depended on Bibi, then Bougie too would have joined the defense team — but for free.
Source : http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.668489
By Yossi Verter 18:50 29.07.15
Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who dropped urgent ministry business before the start of the school year, rushed to the West Bank settlement of Beit El. He provided a good description of what has happened there over the past two days: “It doesn’t match the spirit of the government.”
According to the educational message of the leader of the Habayit Hayehudi party, “the spirit of the government” isn’t compatible with the rulings of the High Court of Justice, the rule of law and the legal authority of Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon to enforce order in the territories.
Instead, the spirit of the government is compatible with the unbridled attacks by Tourism Minister Yariv Levin on the High Court justices — representatives of the “radical left” in his words — who ruled that the two unfinished and illegal structures born in sin, crime and without permits on private Palestinian property must be demolished.
A local building dispute in a normal country wouldn’t keep anyone but the contractor, the demolition crew and two bulldozers busy. But now such a dispute is driving the entire governing coalition crazy.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we were told, was awoken at 3:30 A.M. to something that couldn’t be more traumatic: a telephone call from Bennett. Habayit Hayehudi’s threats about “coalition implications” didn’t take long to arrive. As if Bennett, Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked — who has been tricked into becoming their agent — have another government they can join.
Levin and Immigrant Absorption Minister Zeev Elkin, who took a stand to the right of the invaders in Beit El and Sa-Nur and rushed to condemn the eviction, represent the settler supporters in Likud. Acting properly like a public official is beyond them. It’s no surprise the lawbreakers remained at the sites and continued to clash with the police. They realized somebody had their back.
Ya’alon in normal times — if there is such a thing — goes well out of his way to legalize and sanitize all the impurities in the West Bank. But he’s still committed to some norms of proper government and has became a common leftist — according to his ministerial colleagues.
Because of their fears of attacking Netanyahu directly — his word is law — they chose an easier target, Ya’alon. This wasn’t the first time Ya’alon realized that no matter what he does for the settlers, he will always owe them more. They will always deserve another portion.
And we can only imagine what would have happened if Zionist Union leaders Isaac Herzog (widely known as Bougie) and Tzipi Livni were part of the government today. What a volley of invective they would have suffered.
Netanyahu, as usually happens in such cases, emerged without a scratch. This time Ya’alon — his nickname is Bogie — was his bulletproof vest. In the previous government, Livni usually played this role between Netanyahu and his party’s right wing — taking the blame for all the horrible things in their eyes that the government was forced to deal with.
One time its Tzipi, this time its Bogie, and if it depended on Bibi, then Bougie too would have joined the defense team — but for free.
Source : http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.668489
Israeli
(4,151 posts)7. High Court: Contested homes in Beit El settlement to be demolished
Court rejects appeal by contractor who built the two structures in the settlement of Beit El; demolition to be carried out by Thursday.
By Chaim Levinson 10:28 29.07.15
The High Court of Justice rejected on Wednesday an appeal seeking to prevent the demolition of two building in the West Bank settlement of Beit El. The structures are to be demolished by Thursday.
On Tuesday, a violent clash erupted between Israeli police and hundreds of young settlers trying to stop the army from demolishing the buildings.
At the same time, the state filed its response to the appeal filed by the buildings' contractor. The state agreed with the appeal, writing that there was a basic change in the planning situation which justified the reversal of the court's ruling which required the buildings' demolition.
Last year, the Supreme Court ordered the two buildings demolished by the end of July, following a petition by the Palestinian landowners and the Yesh Din group. But the Civil Administration, acting on the defense minister's orders, has launched an accelerated process of promoting a building plan and giving a retroactive construction permit last month, after which the contractor would be able to appeal the Supreme Court to rescind the demolition orders.
Tuesday's clashes began when the youths tried to stop a police vehicle from bringing in a security fence to be set up around the buildings. Police sought to drive off the settlers, who were being led at the time by Likud MK Oren Hazan, and a violent clash ensued. Two youths were arrested.
Netanyahu: No reason to demolish
"We are actively trying to strengthen the settlements, in accordance with the law," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday. "Our stance on the houses in Beit El is very clear: We oppose the demolition and are taking legal action to prevent this move. I want the government's stance – that the planning process on the site has been finished and there is therefore no reason to demolish the homes – be brought to the High Court for attention." Netanyahu discussed the matter with Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein Tuesday.
Just prior to Netanyahu's announcement, Habayit Hayehudi chairman and Education Minister Naftali Bennett demanded that Netanyahu clarify that the houses were not to be demolished.
"Ten years since the Disengagement, someone seems to have forgotten that the national camp once had political and public force," Bennett told Netanyahu in a telephone conversation. "The defense minister has been dragged into the extremism and the agitation, instead of trying to calm the tension."
Source: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.668395
By Chaim Levinson 10:28 29.07.15
The High Court of Justice rejected on Wednesday an appeal seeking to prevent the demolition of two building in the West Bank settlement of Beit El. The structures are to be demolished by Thursday.
On Tuesday, a violent clash erupted between Israeli police and hundreds of young settlers trying to stop the army from demolishing the buildings.
At the same time, the state filed its response to the appeal filed by the buildings' contractor. The state agreed with the appeal, writing that there was a basic change in the planning situation which justified the reversal of the court's ruling which required the buildings' demolition.
Last year, the Supreme Court ordered the two buildings demolished by the end of July, following a petition by the Palestinian landowners and the Yesh Din group. But the Civil Administration, acting on the defense minister's orders, has launched an accelerated process of promoting a building plan and giving a retroactive construction permit last month, after which the contractor would be able to appeal the Supreme Court to rescind the demolition orders.
Tuesday's clashes began when the youths tried to stop a police vehicle from bringing in a security fence to be set up around the buildings. Police sought to drive off the settlers, who were being led at the time by Likud MK Oren Hazan, and a violent clash ensued. Two youths were arrested.
Netanyahu: No reason to demolish
"We are actively trying to strengthen the settlements, in accordance with the law," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday. "Our stance on the houses in Beit El is very clear: We oppose the demolition and are taking legal action to prevent this move. I want the government's stance – that the planning process on the site has been finished and there is therefore no reason to demolish the homes – be brought to the High Court for attention." Netanyahu discussed the matter with Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein Tuesday.
Just prior to Netanyahu's announcement, Habayit Hayehudi chairman and Education Minister Naftali Bennett demanded that Netanyahu clarify that the houses were not to be demolished.
"Ten years since the Disengagement, someone seems to have forgotten that the national camp once had political and public force," Bennett told Netanyahu in a telephone conversation. "The defense minister has been dragged into the extremism and the agitation, instead of trying to calm the tension."
Source: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.668395
DetlefK
(16,423 posts)8. Demolish the builldings and return the land to its owner.
Israeli
(4,151 posts)11. One done .....
Destruction of Beit El buildings begins amid continued riots
Tractors enter West Bank settlement after High Court upholds previous decision to destroy Draynoff buildings; hundreds clash with police overnight; settlers return to evacuated town of Sa-Nur.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4684756,00.html
The other ....dream on ....
Tractors enter West Bank settlement after High Court upholds previous decision to destroy Draynoff buildings; hundreds clash with police overnight; settlers return to evacuated town of Sa-Nur.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4684756,00.html
The other ....dream on ....
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in wake of the riots and destruction that 300 new housing units would be approved for Beit El along with new construction in Jerusalem.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)12. Watch: Settlers, police clash as state demolishes illegal structures in Beit El
Settlers and security forces clashed in the West Bank settlement of Beit El as authorities demolished two illegally built structures as per a High Court ruling earlier on Wednesday.
Hundreds of settlers on the scene were protesting the demolition. During the demonstrations, scuffles broke out between settlers and police.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/WATCH-Settlers-police-clash-as-state-begins-demolishing-illegal-structures-in-Beit-El-410475
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)14. If these rioters were Palestinian how many would be
Dead or wounded by now?
Eugene
(61,900 posts)16. Israel approves new homes in settlement after demolishing two buildings
Source: Reuters
World | Wed Jul 29, 2015 7:48pm EDT
Israel approves new homes in settlement after demolishing two buildings
JERUSALEM
Israel gave final approval on Wednesday for plans to build 300 new homes in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, announcing the move as it carried out a court demolition order against two vacant apartment blocks in the same enclave.
Dozens of Jewish settlers have gathered over the past several days at Beit El settlement to protest against the demolition. Israel's Supreme Court ruled the two partially built blocks had been constructed illegally on Palestinian-owned land.
Live television footage from Beit El showed settlers, who had scuffled earlier with police at the site, watching an excavator tear into the buildings, but not intervening.
As payback for the demolition, ultra-nationalists in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition had urged him to press ahead with a separate 300-home project slated for a different tract of land in the settlement.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Israel approves new homes in settlement after demolishing two buildings
JERUSALEM
Israel gave final approval on Wednesday for plans to build 300 new homes in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, announcing the move as it carried out a court demolition order against two vacant apartment blocks in the same enclave.
Dozens of Jewish settlers have gathered over the past several days at Beit El settlement to protest against the demolition. Israel's Supreme Court ruled the two partially built blocks had been constructed illegally on Palestinian-owned land.
Live television footage from Beit El showed settlers, who had scuffled earlier with police at the site, watching an excavator tear into the buildings, but not intervening.
As payback for the demolition, ultra-nationalists in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition had urged him to press ahead with a separate 300-home project slated for a different tract of land in the settlement.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/29/us-israel-palestinians-settlement-idUSKCN0Q315U20150729
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)21. That didn't take long.
Well, I huess that Bibi has to appease the crazies in his iwn government.
Little Tich
(6,171 posts)17. UN, EU denounce approval of fresh settlement homes
Source: Times of Israel
Ban Ki-moon calls planned housing projects in Beit El and East Jerusalem ‘impediment to peace'; PLO labels move a ‘war crime’
The European Union, United Nations and others panned the Israeli government for green-lighting construction projects in the West Bank settlement of Beit El and Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem beyond the 1967 Green Line boundary.
The recent decision “calls into question the Israeli government’s stated commitment to a negotiated two-state solution in the Middle East Peace Process,” a EU statement read.
“We urge the government of Israel to urgently reverse recent decisions and put an end to settlement expansion,” it continued.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved Wednesday the “immediate” construction of 300 settler homes in the West Bank as his government came under pressure from right-wing Jewish groups.
Read more: http://www.timesofisrael.com/un-eu-denounce-approval-of-fresh-settlement-houses/
Israeli
(4,151 posts)19. In conclusion ...
There’s no schism on the right when it comes to legalizing settlements
A legislator in Naftali Bennett’s party floats the trial balloon, and the prime minister and defense minister follow along in the blatant land theft.
By Ravit Hecht
The saga of the Dreinoff buildings in the West Bank settlement of Beit El encapsulates all the methods by which the messianic, nationalist right has conquered Israel. Ostensibly, it’s a story about a crisis in the self-described “national camp,” perhaps even a schism.
The story goes like this. Loyalists of MK Bezalel Smotrich (Habayit Hayehudi) and his parade of beasts were evicted by soldiers operating under orders from “the post-Zionist traitor,” aka the former head of Military Intelligence and former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon. This guy had the gall to dare uphold the rule of law.
In other words, he prevented people from barricading themselves in houses that had been built illegally, without permits, on stolen, privately owned Palestinian land. For these reasons, these houses were supposed to be razed, on orders from the High Court of Justice.
The settlers are going wild. The 10th anniversary of the Gaza disengagement, the Tisha B’Av fast and other difficult memories have converged in a moment of zealotry and war. The wildcat reoccupation of the destroyed West Bank settlement of Sa-Nur is reviving the spirit of the siege of Masada.
Representatives of the Habayit Hayehudi party are threatening to topple the government. These people include the justice minister, who in a democratic country would be responsible for upholding the rule of law but in Israel defends people violating a High Court injunction that bars occupancy of these buildings, whose use is also prohibited under the planning and building laws.
That’s how things look on the surface, but the truth is different. There’s no schism; nothing of the sort. The settlers aren’t an aggressive, subversive herd defending themselves against the state and the security services. They’re the lords of the land and its milkers, whose occasional nighttime field exercises are replete with mess kits, songs and combat traditions.
Ya’alon isn’t a man from the sane right who’s muzzling the settler ox while it treads the corn, but a presentable, useful face with which to legalize blatant land theft in the West Bank. It seems he understands his role, which he described magnificently in his simple, direct style on Twitter: “I have done and am doing a great deal for settlements in the West Bank, including Beit El, and the sane, statesmanlike majority knows this. But anyone who thinks I’ll break the law is mistaken! I won’t lend a hand to lawlessness!”
Ya’alon indeed made a huge effort, especially over the last few months, to legalize the Dreinoff apartments. He pressured the Civil Administration in the West Bank to issue a permit for the buildings with record speed in order to bolster the contractor’s petition to rescind the demolition orders.
The eviction of these poster boys is actually an important step on the road to this goal, and at the end of this road, the settlers are supposed to dwell in the houses that were built illegally on stolen privately owned land. While the residents of Ashdod, Tiberias and Be’er Sheva are barred, and rightly so, from building a balcony or closing off a room without the requisite permits, the government is backing the settlers’ aspiration to end this trivial matter of Palestinian property rights, even when these rights have been recognized by the authorities.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also made clear that the state will join the petition filed by the contractor, Meir Dreinoff, to annul the decision to raze the apartments. That’s what Netanyahu wants and that’s what Ya’alon wants. But according to the right’s plan of action, Smotrich has to run at the head of the camp floating trial balloons, while Bennett, Ya’alon and Netanyahu — each in turn — follow him to whitewash the path.
One can only be jealous of the way the right embraces its radical pioneers and adopts their positions. Unlike the left — which repudiates even moderate organizations, ones separated by a deep, nerdy abyss from the destructive violence of the settlers’ “hilltop youth” — the right encourages its most disruptive elements to expand the limits.
This tactic is successful because it steadily moves the political map further and further to the right. Yesterday’s extremist is today’s moderate, and yesterday’s moderate is today’s traitor. The settlements turn from excess baggage meant to realize a messianic fantasy of Israeli colonialism into the center around which the state revolves. And an entire country, with all its resources, soldiers and taxes, serves them loyally.
Run, Smotrich, run. Forge a new path for us.
Source: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.668341
A legislator in Naftali Bennett’s party floats the trial balloon, and the prime minister and defense minister follow along in the blatant land theft.
By Ravit Hecht
The saga of the Dreinoff buildings in the West Bank settlement of Beit El encapsulates all the methods by which the messianic, nationalist right has conquered Israel. Ostensibly, it’s a story about a crisis in the self-described “national camp,” perhaps even a schism.
The story goes like this. Loyalists of MK Bezalel Smotrich (Habayit Hayehudi) and his parade of beasts were evicted by soldiers operating under orders from “the post-Zionist traitor,” aka the former head of Military Intelligence and former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon. This guy had the gall to dare uphold the rule of law.
In other words, he prevented people from barricading themselves in houses that had been built illegally, without permits, on stolen, privately owned Palestinian land. For these reasons, these houses were supposed to be razed, on orders from the High Court of Justice.
The settlers are going wild. The 10th anniversary of the Gaza disengagement, the Tisha B’Av fast and other difficult memories have converged in a moment of zealotry and war. The wildcat reoccupation of the destroyed West Bank settlement of Sa-Nur is reviving the spirit of the siege of Masada.
Representatives of the Habayit Hayehudi party are threatening to topple the government. These people include the justice minister, who in a democratic country would be responsible for upholding the rule of law but in Israel defends people violating a High Court injunction that bars occupancy of these buildings, whose use is also prohibited under the planning and building laws.
That’s how things look on the surface, but the truth is different. There’s no schism; nothing of the sort. The settlers aren’t an aggressive, subversive herd defending themselves against the state and the security services. They’re the lords of the land and its milkers, whose occasional nighttime field exercises are replete with mess kits, songs and combat traditions.
Ya’alon isn’t a man from the sane right who’s muzzling the settler ox while it treads the corn, but a presentable, useful face with which to legalize blatant land theft in the West Bank. It seems he understands his role, which he described magnificently in his simple, direct style on Twitter: “I have done and am doing a great deal for settlements in the West Bank, including Beit El, and the sane, statesmanlike majority knows this. But anyone who thinks I’ll break the law is mistaken! I won’t lend a hand to lawlessness!”
Ya’alon indeed made a huge effort, especially over the last few months, to legalize the Dreinoff apartments. He pressured the Civil Administration in the West Bank to issue a permit for the buildings with record speed in order to bolster the contractor’s petition to rescind the demolition orders.
The eviction of these poster boys is actually an important step on the road to this goal, and at the end of this road, the settlers are supposed to dwell in the houses that were built illegally on stolen privately owned land. While the residents of Ashdod, Tiberias and Be’er Sheva are barred, and rightly so, from building a balcony or closing off a room without the requisite permits, the government is backing the settlers’ aspiration to end this trivial matter of Palestinian property rights, even when these rights have been recognized by the authorities.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also made clear that the state will join the petition filed by the contractor, Meir Dreinoff, to annul the decision to raze the apartments. That’s what Netanyahu wants and that’s what Ya’alon wants. But according to the right’s plan of action, Smotrich has to run at the head of the camp floating trial balloons, while Bennett, Ya’alon and Netanyahu — each in turn — follow him to whitewash the path.
One can only be jealous of the way the right embraces its radical pioneers and adopts their positions. Unlike the left — which repudiates even moderate organizations, ones separated by a deep, nerdy abyss from the destructive violence of the settlers’ “hilltop youth” — the right encourages its most disruptive elements to expand the limits.
This tactic is successful because it steadily moves the political map further and further to the right. Yesterday’s extremist is today’s moderate, and yesterday’s moderate is today’s traitor. The settlements turn from excess baggage meant to realize a messianic fantasy of Israeli colonialism into the center around which the state revolves. And an entire country, with all its resources, soldiers and taxes, serves them loyally.
Run, Smotrich, run. Forge a new path for us.
Source: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.668341
