On a visit to the new community (“outpost”) of Migron Thursday, Knesset speaker MK Reuven Rivlin said that one way or another, Migron would be “legalized. If the government doesn't do it, the Knesset will,” Rivlin said.
Migron is by far the largest of the new communities established by young residents of Judea and Samaria, and a High Court decision requires the state to tear it down and throw its residents out of their homes by the end of the month. Rivlin said that the decision was an aberration of justice, and that he would do whatever possible to reverse it.
“The residents here did not come like thieves in the night,” Rivlin said, after visiting a kindergarten in the community and meeting with residents. “They did not come to steal anyone's land. They came here with sincere intentions, sent by the government, and with its authorization. There is a problem where some of the buildings in Migron are built on privately owned land. Of course we must protect the property rights of every resident of this country, but we cannot solve one injustice by committing another injustice” - and throwing Migron residents out of their homes, said Rivlin, was an injustice.
“We are not protesting the High Court's decision” that homes built on private land must be torn down. “It is up to the government to take responsibility for this situation and to find a way to legalize the status of the land – whether by government decree or Knesset legislation. If the government doesn't act, the Knesset will.” Referring to the infamous report by attorney Talia Sasson, which recommended dismantling over 100 “illegal” outposts – Rivlin said that “even Sasson's report says that there is a possibility of providing compensation to landowners in these cases.” Migron, he said, was an important strategic spot that the state should not be so quick to abandon – and security needs alone would be reason enough to seek a solution that keeps the site intact.
Solutions such as moving the entire community – which has been broached in the past – were not to be dismissed, but were not applicable in this case, Rivlin said. “The state must ensure that it is not making a mistake in moving homes before it moves them and realizes that it made an even bigger mistake. Moving communities is not an answer. The time has come for the state to make a basic decision to legalize these communities and the land they sit on, and solve the issue justly, not on the backs of residents,” Rivlin said, adding that the government need not fear international reaction to such solutions, since the international community was interested not in Migron, but in Jerusalem, and indeed all of Israel's right to exist altogether.