The negotiations regarding a compromise that would prevent the demolition of the community of Migron are advancing and a deal is close, sources involved in the negotiations told Arutz Sheva on Monday.
Under the agreement being formulated, the sources said, the residents will be allowed to move to permanent homes on state land without the existing buildings being demolished.
One main advantage for the state and the residents is avoiding a violent and distressing scene of demolition, repeating the Gush Katif debacle, with people coming from all over Israel to prevent it and children undergoing severe trauma, idealistic families who came to the area with government compliance, being thrown out of their homes with nowhere to go. The other main advantage is having a new community built in Yesha, one whose legitimacy originates with the state.
The sources added that the State will notify the Supreme Court about the compromise, and while the new permanent structures are built, efforts will continue to legalize the existing homes. In any case, the agreement calls for moving the residents to permanent homes on state lands only after construction of the homes is completed, as did the original offer worked out with the state before the case reached the Supreme Court.
At the time, Migron residents rejected it, fearing it would serve as a precedent for other communities and allow the state to not differentiate between homes on purchased lands, homes on state lands and homes on land whose ownership is unclear.
It should be noted that even land that has been purchased has sometimes been purchased from fraudulent Arab sellers, who take advantage of the ignorance of purchasers seeing similar Arab names on Arabic deeds.
The agreement says that if Migron’s residents are able to prove that the land on which their present homes are built is not private Arab land, they will be allowed to remain in their homes.
The Supreme Court had ordered that the 11-year-old community of more than 40 families must be demolished by the end of March, after it ruled their homes were not built on state land, despite the failure of Peace Now and Arabs to prove who owned the land. The area had not been zoned. but the state had shown acquiescence by helping the residents with infrastructure.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who has rejected Knesset proposals for legislation to legalize Migron and other contested communities in Judea and Samaria whose land is not state land, told the Cabinet he wants to honor the court order and win acceptance from Migron residents by proposing to rebuild Migron residents’ homes next to the present site, which would be evacuated and handed over to the Judea and Samaria Civil Administration. Netanyahu’s compromise which was widely rejected before renewed compromise talks were held.
Deputy Knesset Speaker MK Danny Danon will visit Migron on Tuesday to congratulate residents on the compromise. On Monday he said, “Migron is a symbol of Zionism and construction in Judea and Samaria is the duty of the Likud government.”
He added that he welcomed the progress in the negotiations and said, “The pictures of Jews being evacuated from their homes in Gaza and four communities in northern Samaria will not repeat themselves in Migron. This is a significant achievement for the settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria and its ideological alliance with the Likud.”
The spokesperson for Migron, Itai Harel, said in a statement that the residents welcome the suggested compromise and added, “Any initiative that would prevent scenes of destruction and leaves the community in its place is welcome.”