The Knesset commission leveled heavy criticism at Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra (Kadima) and Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz (Kadima) for obstructing the commission's investigation by refusing to allow officers under their command to appear before the Knesset commission. The two had refused to allow the officers to deliver testimony even after the commission members agreed to hear it behind closed doors.
The report specificly calls police to task for not allocating female officers to forcibly remove female protestors from the nine homes in Amona slated for destruction.
The report also criticized the Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria, saying that the compromise presented to the government by the Yesha Council was not solid enough, making it unclear how realistic its implementation was. The Council had offered to destroy the homes itself and move the buildings to the nearby town of Ofra.
Appearing before the commission thus far were Ministers Ezra and Mofaz, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, security chiefs, Yesha Council officials and eyewitnesses.
The commission decided to release the interim results of the inquiry prior to the elections due to concern that if Kadima wins the elections, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will attempt to dismantle the commission immediately following elections.
Chairman of the Land of Israel Legal Forum Nachi Eyal, whose son was seriously wounded in Amona, expressed satisfaction with the intensive work the commission has engaged in so far in its efforts to arrive at the truth of what happened in Amona. Eyal sharply protested the interference of Mofaz and Ezra in the investigation and the Legal Forum is releasing a report of its own Tuesday, outlining that obstruction.
"The Land of Israel Legal Forum seeks the establishment of an official empowered national commission of inquiry that will force the political echelon to expose details that they have attempted to conceal from the Knesset's investigatory commission," Eyal said.
The Legal Forum presented Amona Commission Chairman Yuval Steinitz (Likud) Monday with a compilation of their findings with regard to the events at Amona in several areas, including the political arena, the efforts to reach a compromise, the medical arrangements, use of excessive violence and sexual harassment. The conclusions are based on eyewitness testimony, video evidence and other documentation. The report claims to document the negative atmosphere in the days leading up to the clashes at Amona and bolster the viewpoint that the government had no intention of having the situation go in any direction aside from violent clashes – resulting in wholesale violence on the part of security forces deployed at the quiet hilltop community.