Settlers in West Bank outpost build new homes on private Palestinian land

[Scurrilous]

Defense establishment sources admit construction in the outpost is illegal, and that no real steps have been taken to stop it; situation could spark crisis in Netanyahu's coalition.

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"Some 20 homes that have been built in the Mitzpeh Cramim outpost during the past year could spark a similar coalition crisis to the one recently created by the Ulpana neighborhood in the settlement of Beit El, according to sources in the defense establishment.

The prefabricated and permanent homes, in the outpost northeast of Ramallah, were all built on land that the state officially recognizes as being privately owned by Palestinians.

Sources in the defense establishment warn that the situation could spark the next crisis in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet, similar to the one that erupted over the Ulpana neighborhood and the outposts of Givat Assaf and Migron, also built on private land. Meanwhile, settlers have moved into the buildings at Mitzpeh Cramim.

Construction in the outpost has continued unhindered, despite the Defense Ministry's Civil Administration's orders to stop the the work. The orders were issued in 2011.

Defense sources told Haaretz that the construction in Mitzpeh Cramim was illegal but admitted that no real steps had been taken to stop it."

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/settlers-in-west-bank-outpost-build-new-homes-on-private-palestinian-land-1.425151

[Crunchy Frog]

1. There won't be any crisis. They'll just keep on doing what they've been doing.

They'll make a few little noises about it, keep saying that they'll do something about it while putting it off indefinitely, and in the end, they'll retroactively legalize it.

[Scurrilous]

2. Israel fights anarchy on all fronts, except in West Bank

In contrast to the authorities' resolve in their struggle against peace and human rights activists, the settlers are immune to the law and its enforcers, and bask in the open support of elected officials.

<snip>

"The prime minister, several cabinet members and senior IDF officers boasted this week of their victory over "anarchists" who wanted to disrupt law and order in the territories. Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner's proponents argued that the deputy commander of the Jordan Valley brigade, who smashed his rifle in the face of a Danish peace activist, was protecting his soldiers from a group of anarchists.

If an anarchist is one who denies the state's monopoly on power and authority, this definition aptly characterizes a large proportion of the settlers, who flout the rule of law in the territories and have become masters of the land.

Amos Harel reported in Haaretz on Thursday that a large part of another outpost, Mitzpeh Cramim, was built without a permit on private Palestinian land in the past year. The illegal construction continued in the face of official documentation showing the land's private ownership and despite the Civil Administration's orders to stop work. Meanwhile, the settlers have inhabited about 20 buildings.

Defense sources confirmed that no real steps had been taken to stop the construction. It was also reported that construction in the illegal outpost Avigayil in the southern Hebron hills stopped only after repeated complaints by Rabbis for Human Rights group and Ta'ayush, an Arab-Jewish activist group.

The settlers at Mitzpeh Cramim can take encouragement from their colleagues in the Migron and Givat Assaf outposts, the Ulpana neighborhood in Beit El and dozens of blooming neighborhoods on robbed lands in the West Bank. They have learned that Civil Administration inspectors are not backed by the political leadership while the IDF and police prefer to arrest "anarchists" who want to protect Palestinian landowners from the settlers."

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/israel-fights-anarchy-on-all-fronts-except-in-west-bank-1.425473