Attorney Talia Sasson said Thursday she would continue her battle against Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria from the Knesset. Sasson, a candidate in the joint list shared by Meretz and the new, nameless left-wing party, is known as the author of a report that harshly criticized Israeli life in Judea and Samaria (Yesha).
"I'm joining politics in part because my report was not implemented,” Sasson explained. “My report was matter-of-fact, without a trace of politics. But three years have passed and the government has not rushed to implement it.”
In March 2005 Sasson, then head of the State Prosecution Criminal Department, released a report declaring 150 Jewish outposts and neighborhoods in Judea and Samaria illegal and recommending that dozens of Jewish neighborhoods be destroyed. The report led to demands in Israel and abroad to demolish the neighborhoods in question and expel the Jewish residents.
The Land of Israel Legal Forum and other groups representing Judea and Samaria Jews have objected to the report. Sasson's report was based on criteria set in 2004, but most of the neighborhoods she ruled illegal were built before then and were legal according to the standards at the time, the Legal Forum argues.
While writing the report Sasson met with extreme left group Peace Now, but refused to meet with representatives of Judea and Samaria Jewish towns.
Sasson's decision to join the far-left Meretz party shows her bias, Yesha Council Chairman Danny Dayan said last month. Her entrance into politics “removes, once and for all, the mask hiding her face, and her report,” Dayan said, adding, “The report was political, not legal.”
Sasson is in seventh place on the joint party list. The slot may be a realistic one, as several thousand voters are expected to leave the Labor party and may turn to Meretz instead. However, the joint Meretz-leftist list will face competition from the Green Party and Meimad.