Rivlin: Demolishing Peretz Home 'Illogical and Immoral'

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin on Thursday called on Defense Minister Ehud Barak to authorize the legal status of homes in the Givat Hayovel neighborhood of Eli, where the family of Eliraz Peretz, killed last month in battle in Gaza, lives. The High Court has ordered the neighborhood, termed an “illegal outpost,” to be demolished by the end of the month. The Peretz home is two doors down from the home of another IDF hero killed in battle; the family of Ro'i Klein, who was killed saving members of his battalion during the Second Lebanon War, is also set to be evicted, thanks to the court's order.

Rivlin, on a visit to the Peretz family Thursday, said that “when we say that 'all Israel is responsible one for another,' we mean that sometimes the group must also worry about the needs and rights of the individual. This situation, where the homes of families of heroes who sacrificed their lives for the Israeli public is an illogical and immoral situation.”