Under threat of destruction: Ofra
Under threat of destruction: OfraFlash90

The State of Israel recently withdrew its zoning permit for Ofra, a city in the Binyamin region north of Jerusalem, claiming that there is something to Palestinian complaints that sections of Ofra exist on "private Palestinian land."

Speaking with leading resident Rafi Kaplan, the director of the "Maaleh" religious Zionist organization, Arutz Sheva asked Rafi if he could explain how an old city like Ofra suddenly became "illegal."

Kaplan explained that Ofra had an unwritten agreement with the state about where to build for years, since the state was concerned that if they officially zoned the growing city, people "would jump" to tear it down. When asked who the state was concerned about, Rafi listed off the judiciary system, the media, the Israeli left, the American government, Palestinians, and others who work toward a Palestinian state in the region.

Two years ago, Ofra finally received a "Taba," a zoning permit, for extensive neighborhoods which had been living without a permit.

Since then, Ofra has seen nothing but lawsuits. "Every time that we almost get an authorization, they find a Palestinian who is ready to say that maybe [the land] is his, and when they check, the question comes up who ever gave [Jordanian King] Hussein the deeds to parcel out land which wasn't his to begin with." When Jordan briefly owned Judea, Samaria and Binyamin, King Hussein handed out plots to his cronies, though his ownership, and therefore these Palestinian claims, were never recognized internationally.

"The Arabs [of the time] were against the divisions of the land. Even after he passed it out for tax collection purposes, those people didn't do it. The land isn't worked, and even according to their law, land which isn't worked for ten years returns to the central governing body. They never worked these lands, and on top of that, they haven't found the 'owners' at all, and maybe intentionally they didn't find them, so they couldn't be persuaded to accept compensation [instead of the land]. Everything here is crooked and dirty, just because they want to destroy Ofra."

When asked whether it would be worth remaining quiet without a permit, Kaplan pointed out the risks involved with being legally illegitimate.

He remembered another incident: When Ofra welcomed a group of dozens of French families, it was asked by the state to build a hebrew-language Ulpan class to help the families join into Israeli society. Just when they began to build, however, someone claimed that maybe the land was connected to Palestinians. Work stopped, and the families were forced to hunt for Ulpan classes in Jerusalem.

In the most recent event, when Israeli forces spurred the nearby town of Silwad to sue for land. According to Rafi, not even the residents of Silwad thought anyone would believe them, but "the courts not only believed in them, the state took away the zoning permit it had arranged. Even according to law, a zoning permit that was mistakenly authorized cannot be rescinded. This is the first time this has happened."

Kaplan indicated the area under question, 45 acres of permanent houses, schools, and public buildings. He is convinced that if Ofra is destroyed, "[Prime Minister] Netanyahu would not be able to weather such political destruction. The nation learned from Gush Katif that there is no benefit from such destruction. It just gives a boost to more and more destruction."

Regarding Ofra's faltering success to save nine homes in its center from destruction, Kaplan is optimistic that such destruction won't come to fruition. "Of course they are trying to make a compromise over the destruction of the nine homes, but it won't work. The city of Ofra is strong, and we have strong representatives in the Likud and in the Jewish Home [political parties], and when Netanyahu learns that he won't pass this without losing his leadership, he'll wake up at the last second and find a solution."