The Supreme Court accepted a petition filed by Palestinian Authority Arabs who had illegally squatted at the archaeological site of Khirbet Zanuta, located in Area C, demanding that the IDF allow and secure their return to the site.
The Supreme Court also accepted the claim of the squatters that they were threatened by settlers in the area, although no evidence was presented to that effect. According to the judges, the State is obligated to assist the squatters to return.
Meir Deutsch, Regavim CEO, said that “adopting the false narrative of ‘settler violence’ without presenting a shred of evidence is serious and constitutes a dangerous precedent. Not only did the invaders of Khirbet Zanuta gain a full decade of non-enforcement of the building code – taking advantage of the ‘get out of jail free’ card that the Supreme Court had given them and the wink-and-nod of the state authorities, now, the state adds insult to injury and instead of restoring the site and preserving it, it allows the lawbreakers to return to the site and resume their invasion and destruction of the site.”
First Israel is obligated to fund legal assistance for terrorists and now the State is obligated to assist the return of squatters on land that legally belongs to Israel. The powers that be need to shape up and come to their senses. The Supreme Court must remember whose country this is. Do these decisions overturn government policy?