Netanyahu demands illegal West Bank homes not be demolished

State given until Thursday to raze two structures in Beit El settlement; settlers clash with Israeli forces set to evacuate the homes.

Ha’aretz

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that the Israeli government opposed a High Court order to demolish illegal homes in the West Bank settlement of Beit El and was taking legal recourse to prevent such action.

“We are actively trying to strengthen the settlements, in accordance with the law,” Netanyahu said. “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.”

Border Policemen clashed with settlers in Beit El overnight Monday as they moved to take over the two houses deemed illegal by Israeli courts and slated for demolition. Scores of settlers – mostly youths – were arrested overnight after barricading themselves inside the structures.

The two structures – known collectively as Dreinoff buildings, named after the contractor who built them – were constructed on private Palestinian land and a court demolition order was issued for them in 2010. After a lengthy legal battle in the High Court, the state was given until this Thursday to demolish the structures.

In the past two weeks, the local settler council has encouraged youths to arrive at the scene and set themselves up in the two houses in an attempt to prevent the demolition. In recent days, fortification efforts were conducted by settlers and barbed wires was placed around the structures’ doors and windows, and makeshift metal barricades were set up.

Fearing the situation would escalate out of control, a large number of security forces were sent to evacuate the structure overnight, ahead of its expected demolition. Nonetheless, the IDF does not necessarily plan to do away with the structures immediately.

In recent weeks, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has worked to retroactively ‘legitimize’ the structures by attaining the proper permits and thus circumnavigate the High Court’s ruling on the matter.

The Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria even held an emergency meeting last Wednesday, issuing a permit for the structures. On Tuesday the contractor was expected to petition the court on the basis of the permit, urging justices to rescind – or issue a stay – to the demolition order. The state is expected to support the contractors claim.

It is possible the move to evacuate the structures will help the contractor’s claim, as settlers’ presence in the structure contradicted the court’s decree, and with its evacuation, the state can now claim that it has followed the court’s orders.

In response to the report, the IDF said in a statement that “in accordance with the High Court’s ruling and with the intention of evacuating and demolishing the Dreinoff buildings in the community of Beit El, it was decided to station a Border Police force at the compound… Security forces will work to maintain law and order in the compound.” According to the statement, the Border Policemen were sent to Beit El to prevent locals from entering the structures and to “allow the planned move” to proceed.