Yehuda Weinstein
Yehuda WeinsteinFlash 90

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein called on the residents of Migron, their leaders and all other relevant factors to “act responsibly”.

Weinstein’s call was made shortly after the Supreme Court ruled that the residents of Migron must be evicted by September 4, and most of the buildings there razed by September 11.

Homes on Plot 10, where 17 families said they had bought the land from Palestinian Authority Arab owners, will not be razed for the time being until their legal status is resolved.

The residents of Migron “must respect the rule of law and vacate the premises peacefully, just as most of them promised they would do to the Supreme Court in the present proceedings,” a statement from Weinstein’s office read.

The statement added, “The Attorney General is aware of the public aspects and the great delicacy of the Migron affair and aware of the fact that the Supreme Court decision is not an easy one for the residents. The Attorney General’s position, which the court fully adopted, expressed the right balance between the obligation to comply with the Court’s ruling from the previous petition and the claims of the purchase of some of the land in Migron.”

Referring to the homes on Plot 10, the statement said, “The Court gave great weight to the position of Attorney General, which said that the demolitions of the buildings should be delayed for three months to examine the possibility of proprietary and planning regulation, even though it could have ordered the removal of these structures in the coming days, as it did with the other buildings in Migron, given the Supreme Court’s ruling from August of 2011.”

The statement concluded, “As was presented in the State's response to the Supreme Court, the Attorney General places a great emphasis on the need to preserve the property rights of the individual - both Palestinian and Israeli.”

Migron lost a case, initiated by Peace Now, which successfully challenged previous purchases of all of the land on which Migron is located.

The court ruled in favor of Peace Now even though no proof was brought from Palestinian Authority Arabs that they own the property.

After the court ordered the demolition of all Migron homes, an American philanthropist helped buy three parcels of land on which the 17 families live.

The Netanyahu government promised to back the residents but then backed down when Deputy Attorney General Mike Blass decided that allowing the families to stay would not be practical since the rest of the community still is not in Jewish hands following the original court ruling that the previous purchases are not valid.

Following the Court’s ruling on Wednesday, MK Michael Ben Ari (National Union) called on the residents of Migron “to behave the way Bedouins would behave if a shed were demolished in Rahat.”

While he did not spell out what he meant, it is a safe bet to assume he was referring to the violent riots that usually accompany attempts to enforce demolition orders against Bedouins.

The residents of Migron said: "This is a black day for the state of Israel, in which the basic rights of right-wing citizens are trampled upon. The High Court gave a stamp of kashrut today to the 'price tag' action by the State Attorney's Office against all settlers. The government of Israel will not be able to wash its hands of the brutal rape that has been carried out before its eyes, to which it consented by remaining silent."

"On this day, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu joins the eternally shameful list of former prime ministers who chose to lift their hand against the settlement enterprise. We are certain that the Zionist citizens of the state will give him his due deserts in time. The residents of Migron lift their heads up on this difficult day and believe that settlement will grow and flourish and blossom and that very soon, the story of Migron will end with two communities at least!"

On Tuesday, hundreds of activists gathered in dozens of intersections across Israel to protest the demolition in the community of Migron. The demonstrators pointed an accusing finger at Netanyahu and said he is solely responsible for the eviction.