In West Bank Settlement, The State Is Legalizing Lawlessness
The state told the High Court of Justice that it has no intention of enforcing demolition orders in the settlement of Ofra ‘due to its special condition.’ History tells us that if this dangerous precedent is accepted, it won’t be the last time this happens.
By Yesh Din, written by Yossi Gurvitz
If one had to choose a musical theme for this High Court of Justice hearing, it would have to be the famous whistle of “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” If one had to choose a movie theme, he/she should consider settling on tumbleweed rolling in the wind with the wilderness as a background.
Two weeks ago, Yesh Din went to the High Court of Justice for a hearing on a petition it filed in 2008, and which has been waiting for a ruling ever since. The petition dealt with illegal construction in the flagship settlement of Ofra. That last sentence was somewhat redundant, given that Ofra is essentially a large illegal outpost; but Yesh Din went to deal with the fate of nine new houses, built in June 2008 and which were, at the time the petition was written, yet unoccupied.
Once, long ago, it went rather well: the petition rattled the settlers to the point that Ofra’s rabbi, Avi Gisser, ruled that construction should go on during the Sabbath so that it could be finished prior to the hearing (Hebrew). Even construction work on the Temple was halted during the Sabbath; it would appear Ofra is holier than the Temple.
Then Justice Edmond Levy – yes, of the Levy Report – issued an interim order, forbidding using or inhabiting the houses. But only days later, state representative Attorney Shai Nitzan – nowadays the state attorney – decided that tricks can be played even with High Court orders (Hebrew). Nitzan pulled one of the most contemptible legal tricks in the history of the country: he ruled that since the interim order was addressed to the respondents – that is, the minister of defense and the commanding general, Central Command – only they (Minister Ehud Barak, General Yair Naveh, and the then chief of the Civil Administration) are prohibited from inhabiting the houses. The houses were, of course, immediately inhabited by settlers, and now we are left with the unenviable task of pulling Nitzan’s headless nail.
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http://972mag.com/in-west-bank-settlement-state-is-legalizing-lawlessness/84876/
