Evyatar
EvyatarAmichai Ben David

The defense establishment on Sunday night rejected the appeal filed by the residents of Evyatar against the demarcation order preventing them from building the community. The danger of eviction now once again hovers over the 50 families living in the town, which is located near the Tapuah junction in Samaria.

The ruling issued by the Attorney General of the Judea and Samaria Division states that "this is a very blatant and serious conduct, which indicates a lack of good faith and contributes to the violation of public order and the rule of law in the area."

According to the reasons given in the Attorney General’s letter, the buildings on the site were erected illegally and without proper planning. The establishment of the town, he said, led to a deterioration in security stability in the area. "This affects the assessment of the security situation in the sector, and requires the allocation of many forces that are diverted from other operational tasks."

As for the master plan submitted by the Samaria Regional Council, the Judea and Samaria Attorney General ruled that it is not feasible from a planning point of view and that the residents have no rights in the land. The filing of the master plan in land to which they have no proprietary affiliation does not prevent the initiation of enforcement proceedings, he added.

Zvi Succot, one of the leaders of the community of Evyatar, blasted the decision, saying, "The town of Evaytar has been contributing to the violation of public order just like any Jewish presence in the Land of Israel for the past 100 years. They have not accepted us anywhere, since then and until today. The eviction of Jews because of raging Arabs has no other name but surrender to terrorism. Shameful."

Sunday’s ruling comes several days after the Samaria Regional Council submitted an application to the Civil Administration for approval of a city building plan (master plan) for Evyatar, as part of the efforts being made to regulate the community.

The plan includes the construction of 100 housing units in an area of ​​about 95 dunams and plans for the construction of a synagogue, club, dormitories, gardens and an area of ​​about 9 dunams for the construction of parks. The plan was submitted as an extension of the community of Kfar Tapuah.

The meaning of the master plan request is that all enforcement actions against the town be stopped. This is in accordance to the procedure of the Civil Administration, which states, among other things, that "as long as an application for a planning permit is examined...the enforcement proceedings (i.e. the demolition of the construction) is frozen."

The town of Evyatar was first established in April 2013 in memory of Evyatar Borovsky, who was killed in a terrorist attack at the nearby Tapuah junction.

The town was re-established by the Nahala and Emunim movements in response to the shooting attack that took place at Tapuah junction, in which Yehuda Guetta was critically injured and later died of his wounds.

The community is home to about 50 families, and has a nursery, a Torah study hall, roads and infrastructure.