MK Bezalel Smotrich
MK Bezalel SmotrichYoni Kempinski

MK Bezalel Smotrich said in a radio interview Tuesday that the Coalition compromise on the Regulation Law does not mean that the Jewish Home party has given up on saving the community of Amona from being demolished.

"It is true that we did not succeed in including Amona in the law," Smotrich admitted. "But we are not giving up on Amona. Minister Bennett has stated that if we fail to keep Amona on the mountain through the absentee property law or another solution then we will go back to Clause 7 of the [Regulation] Law."

Clause 7 of the Regulation Law would retroactively legalize construction on land which the High Court has already ruled upon. It was dropped from the bill after Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon raised objections. In its place was an agreement to use the absentee property law to allow the residents of Amona to remain on the mountain upon which their community is currently located.

Smotrich spoke of his "mixed emotions" after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Education Minister reached the compromise over the Regulation Law. "It's like the time [we declared] independence." On the one hand, we had a state, thank God, and on the other hand there was a partition [of our country]."

"We hope that the Regulation Law will remove the legal cloud which hangs over 4,000 homes in Judea and Samaria." he added. "The left is correct. This law is the beginning of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. We as a country and [we] in the Knesset have to take responsibility for the settlements."