(IsraelNN.com) 20 Knesset Members have signed a letter to Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch, demanding that she disqualify herself from taking part in court panels in cases involving Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, outposts and the separation barrier. The reason for the demand is Beinisch's recent meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Israel.

The MKs explained that according to reports of Beinisch's meeting with the ambassador, it was called "in order to explain to him the decisions and rulings of the Supreme Court on these matters [Judea and Samaria etc. - ed.]." The substance of the reports, they noted, was not denied. Beinisch could preside over a court session deciding the fate of Hevron's Peace House as early as this Thursday.

'Disqualify yourself'
"We think that the very fact that the meeting took place is an unprecedented blow to Israel's sovereignty and to the independence of the judicial system. We expected you to reach the obvious conclusion that you must disqualify yourself from cases on these subjects, on your own," the MKs wrote. They added that they learned that Beinisch has no such intention, and will even head the panel that will rule in the matter of Peace House. "We would like to express our resolute opinion on this matter and ask you to reconsider your participation in these panels," they wrote.

The letter was signed by MKs from Shas, NU/NRP, Kadima, UTJ and Yisrael Beiteinu.
"The meeting is an unprecedented blow to Israel's sovereignty and to the independence of the judicial system"

Earlier Peace House petition
Peace House is a large structure overlooking the road from Hevron to Kiryat Arba, which was purchased by Jews and inhabited by several families in March of 2007. The government wants the Jews to abandon the house and the case has reached the Supreme Court.

In an earlier petition that was circulated in November, 54 Knesset Members called upon the government of Israel to honor the "right of purchase" of Jews in the City of the Patriarchs, and to allow Jewish settlement in those homes and lands which were purchased for their "full price," including Peace House.

The signatories included all MKs of the Likud and National Union parties, and all the United Torah Judaism MKs, except for one who was abroad.  Among the eligible members of the coalition parties (Ministers and Deputy Ministers are not permitted to sign petitions) all of the MKs from Shas and the Pensioners' Party signed, 7 of 9 non-ministerial Yisrael Beiteinu MKs, and 8 of Kadima's 17 eligible MKs.

Military legal officials have consistently sided with the Jewish community  regarding the legality of the purchase of Peace House.