Peace Now is fuming over two new outposts that it says have been set up with electricity and water, indicating government support.
This was the first time since 2005 that outposts have been connected to the national infrastructure, charged Peace Now official Hagit Ofran. She also alleged that the outposts, usually consisting of a tiny number of single people and young families, were erected without permits.
However, construction of Arab homes without permits in Judea and Samaria is a daily practice that has continued with almost no resistance by the government, which generally singles out Jewish homes for demolitions.
The new outposts are Nahalei Tal, northwest of Ramallah, and Tzufim North, near the Tzufim community. It is located two miles east of Kalkilya, which borders the northern Tel Aviv metropolitan city of Kfar Saba.
It was not clear if the Tzufim outpost is inside the community’s borders.
"As opposed to the sporadic outposts that are created by the hilltop youth and evacuated every few weeks by the security forces, it is evident that the two new outposts are highly supported by the authorities," Ofran said.
"They include mobile homes, infrastructure, electricity, water and roads (and even air conditioning)," she said, indicating that the watchdog had complained to the Israeli Civil Administration which is responsible for planning issues.
"It is apparent that at this stage there is no intention to evacuate the outposts," Ofran said,
Ofran charged that by allowing the establishment of more unauthorized outposts, the Netanyahu administration was making "a mockery of the rule of law,” AFP reported.
The “Levy Report” that was submitted to the government two months ago exposed the legal difficulties with the current discrimination by the government against allowing Jews to build and live in all of Judea and Samaria.
The report, authored by former High Court Edmund Levy and two other legal experts, concluded that despite intentional community allegations, there is no Israeli “occupation” of the areas and that Jews have a legal right to live there, as do Arabs.