Slain Soldier Eliraz Peretz
Slain Soldier Eliraz PeretzIsrael news photo: Arutz Sheva

The government apparently has “compromised” and will destroy the home of a slain soldier because it allegedly sits on Arab land, Channel 10 has reported. A second home, belonging to another officer killed in action, will remain.

The government is scheduled in several days to answer a High Court petition, filed by Peace Now, demanding that nine homes located on the Yovel Hill in Samaria be destroyed because they did not have all of the required building permits. The neighborhood is part of the Jewish community of Eli, in northeast Samaria, and was dedicated in 1998.

Peace Now filed its petition five years ago, although Arabs had not claimed the land before then. One year after Peace Now turned to the court, Ro'i Klein, a resident of the neighborhood,  was killed in the 2006 Second Lebanon War when he jumped on a live grenade that landed near him in order to save the troops under his command, leaving a widow and three chidlren.

The case has been in the discussion stage while the government tries to work out a compromise, which apparently has resulted in the Civil Lands Administration declaring that the home of Klein’s family is built on state land, while Peretz's family residence is on Arab land.

Hundreds of friends and supporters of Peretz, who was a Golani Brigade commander killed this year, visited the family’s sukkah during the holiday and turned to 500 Likud party members to put pressure on Knesset Members and Cabinet ministers to save the home.

Miriam Peretz, mother of the slain soldier, said she is optimistic that “everything will work out” and noted that what interests the widow’s family is a “life of faith and joy” as they sit in their sukkah.