The Regavim movement petitioned the Supreme Court to demolish the access road to the Palestinian Arab town of Rawabi in Samaria, following the discovery that the road was constructed on private Arab land.
The fact that the access road to the city was paved on private land without the owners' consent was exposed during a previous petition by Regavim, after the construction of the city began. The previous petition dealt with the construction of a road to the city's industrial zone which was causing the leakage of pollutants to the nearby Jewish town of Ateret.
The Supreme Court determined last year that the road leading to the industrial zone was paved without a permit. During the hearing, the State admitted that there was a more fundamental problem with the roads system in Rawabi.
In its response to the Supreme Court, the State noted that "the examination revealed that these documents are ownership documents that do not fulfill the requirements in this respect. Inter alia, in view of the fact that part of the road is located in regulated land where the owner's consent has not been obtained with regard to the section in which the documents are being transferred ... The transferred documents do not solve the property problem." The state admitted that that long sections of the access road to the city were paved on private land without the owners' consent.
Recently, after it became clear that there was no real change in the situation, attorneys Yael Sinmon and Avi Segal of the Regavim movement submitted a new petition to the Supreme Court demanding that the road paved on private Arab land be demolished.
It was also found that the Civil Administration issued a temporary permit to build the road several years ago despite the illegality of the paving of roads on privately owned land.
If the Supreme Court allows the road to remain, the decision could have far-reaching ramifications for Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria where similar problems have been identified, "In the past, the state has declared before the court that the temporary access road to the city actually invades the private lands of Palestinians, who of course did not give their consent," said Attorney Avi Segal of the Regavim movement." Buildings and roads built by Jews on private Palestinian land, and therefore, in this case, it is unacceptable that the High Court of Justice will reduce the rights of landowners."