Yisrael Beytenu Chairman Avigdor Liberman responded on Monday morning to a report on Arutz Sheva about the expansion of the illegal Bedouin outpost Khan al-Ahmar and sent a strong message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"Bibi, stop with the excuses. It's been more than six years since you stopped me, as defense minister, from evacuating Khan al-Ahmar — that illegal Palestinian outpost that continues to expand and become a strategic threat to Jerusalem and a symbol of the government's lack of power," Liberman said.
He added, "Stop being scared. Uphold the Supreme Court's ruling and evict them from there immediately. The time has come for clear actions for the sake of Israel's security."
[קישורים:4:חאן אל אחמר]
Yesterday, Arutz Sheva broadcast its first report from the Regavim movement which led the legal battle against the illegal outpost of Khan al-Ahmar, located near Highway 1 on the Jerusalem-Dead Sea route, in the E1 area, pointing to five new structures that were built in the pirate outpost.
One of them was built at a distance from the site and indicates an attempt to expand westward, despite repeated commitments by the state to the court that it would demolish the outpost, which has become a symbol of the lack of Israeli governance.
The Supreme Court has ruled six times that the structures there are illegal, and has repeatedly upheld demolition orders against them. In October 2018, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the compound would be evacuated within a short time, but the demolition was not carried out.
Throughout the election rounds in recent years, this issue has been raised, and many politicians have explained the strategic importance of the E1 area, and even pledged to vacate the site when elected. However, in the last hearing held by the High Court of Justice in May 2023, the state argued that this was not the appropriate time for eviction due to political considerations.
In light of the documentation, Regavim sent an urgent letter to Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, Commander of the Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Balut, and the head of the Civil Administration, Brig. Gen. Hisham Ibrahim, demanding that immediate steps be taken against the illegal construction annexes in Khan al-Ahmar.
"A worrying trend in the expansion of the illegal outpost in Area C, with an emphasis on the areas surrounding Jerusalem, creates a real strategic threat of territorial continuity around Jerusalem, the capital of Israel," Regavim wrote in the letter, adding that “The matter of the illegal outpost has been discussed again and again in the judicial courts, and they have repeatedly emphasized your duty to uphold and enforce the law against the illegal construction that is rampant, to the point that Khan al-Ahmar has become a joke of the lack of Israeli governance and a reward for criminal behavior. Therefore, it is especially important to enforce the law on this site. The new illegal construction is a blatant result of your continued refusal to enforce the law, and the criminals are celebrating."