PM Bennett at Khan al-Ahmar
PM Bennett at Khan al-AhmarYonatan Sindel/Flash90

The Israeli government will request on Sunday that the Supreme Court extend by six more months the deadline for evacuating Khan al-Ahmar, an illegal Arab outpost.

The request is based on inter-agency administrative work, including "political recommendations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," the Ministry said in a statement.

Sunday, September 5 marks the end of the six-week extension granted by the Supreme Court: In July, the Supreme Court allowed the Israeli government additional time to come to a decision on how to proceed in the evacuation of Khan al-Ahmar, and emphasized that there would be no further extensions.

The court had previously ordered the illegal settlement demolished and given the government until July 2021 to complete its evacuation.

The Regavim Movement, which has been demanding the law be enforced against what it called "the illegal squatters' camp known as Khan al Ahmar" for over a decade, responded Saturday night to the Foreign Ministry's announcement.

"Under no circumstances should law enforcement policy in the State of Israel be dictated by pressure exerted by foreign governments. This is a perilous, slippery slope that erodes Israeli sovereignty," Regavim said in a statement.

Meir Deutsch, Director General of Regavim, noted that the Foreign Ministry is not a party to this case and is not a respondent to the High Court of Justice petition; only the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense are named as defendants.

"Naftali Bennett, you are the Prime Minister of Israel. Don't hide behind Foreign Minister Lapid," he said.