Binyamin Netanyahu
Binyamin NetanyahuReuters

Regavim, the NGO that for over a decade has been at the forefront of the legal battle to protect the Adumim region and to evacuate the illegal Bedouin outpost Khan Al-Ahmar, on Saturday night criticized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's decision to postpone the evacuation until further notice.

"For years, Prime Minister Netanyahu has implemented a policy of selective law enforcement against Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria. Tonight's decision reeks of cowardice and makes a laughingstock of Israel's sovereignty and commitment to law and order," the organization said in a statement.

"The court's decisions regarding Amona and Ofra, in Beit El and in Netiv HaAvot, were implemented to the letter, and the State of Israel acted in a manner befitting a sovereign, democratic, law-abiding state – but in the case of the Palestinian Authority's flagship outpost, which was created as part of publicly-declared, strategic program to take control of areas under full Israeli jurisdiction, Netanyahu has cold feet,” it added.

“If the Prime Minister does not come to his senses quickly, the blame for this stinging defeat in the battle for Area C and the capitulation to the Palestinian Authority's hostile takeover will be Netanyahu's lasting legacy of shame. The Prime Minister cannot shift the blame in the direction of the Supreme Court; he has no one to blame but himself,” concluded Regavim.

Source in the Prime Minister’s Office said earlier on Saturday that the government is holding off on demolishing Khan Al-Ahmar in order to “exhaust negotiations and proposals received from various sources, including some in the past few days.”

Khan al-Ahmar was built in the 1990s on land belonging to the Israeli town of Kfar Adumim, east of Jerusalem. The encampment is home to some 170 Bedouin, who have expanded the community in recent years with the aid of foreign governments.

Israeli courts approved the outpost’s demolition, but in July the Supreme Court froze plans to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar, pending an appeal by residents.

Israeli security forces had been preparing for the planned demolition, which was set to commence just hours before the court intervened.

Last month, however, the Supreme Court ruled against the residents, rejecting their claims and clearing the way for Khan al-Ahmar’s evacuation.

Earlier this week, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor warned Israel that the planned demolition of a Bedouin village in Judea and Samaria may constitute a war crime.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) had filed a claim with the ICC in September against Israel over the demolition, calling it a war crime.