Knesset Members from ruling Likud and the opposition National Union (NU) parties questioned the motivation behind the appeal filed at night by the State Attorney and Civilian Administration after a court issued a restraining order against the Migron demolitions.
The very filing of the unusual nighttime appeal made it legally possible for the bulldozers to go ahead with the planned demolition.
"The cat is out of the bag," said MKs Zev Elkin (Likud) and Aryeh Eldad (NU), who jointly head the Knesset's Land of Israel Lobby. "The State Attorney's Office and the Civilian Administration, which hurried to appeal a court decision in the middle of the night, proved tonight that they are not guided by the rule of law but by the love of demolishing the [Jewish] settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria."
The two MKs called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to instruct the professional civil servants to find every legal solution possible in order to prevent more demolitions. "We have been dealing with this matter for weeks and are convinced that the homes at Migron could have been saved from demolition," they said.
"I once again call upon the MKs from the Likud not to be fooled by the fraudulent Netanyahu," MK Yaakov Katz, NU Chairman, announced. He called Netanyahu "the continuer of Sharon and Olmert, who was a partner in the destruction of Gush Katif, who froze and is still freezing [construction in] Israel's capital Jerusalem, Maale Adumim, Beitar and Gush Etzion."
Katz called upon Likud loyalists to vote NU next time around, as Netanyahu had used their votes to tear down the structures at Migron.
MK Uri Orbach (Jewish Home) told Voice of Israel Radio, in a paraphrase from the Biblical story of Yaakov and Esau, "The voice is that of the High Court and the hands are those of the Likud. The hands that have forgotten how to build homes nationwide only remember how to tear down houses in Samaria."
