After months of legal proceedings and appeals, Supreme Court Justice Rivlin has issued a final ruling: The housing unit in which the Arab murderer of eight yeshiva students lived will be sealed and filled with with concrete -- a measure considered equivalent to demolition.
Baruch Marzel, a leader in the campaign to have the terrorist's home destroyed, told IsraelNationalNews that the action will likely take place in a week or so. "This building not only houses a terrorist, but is also illegal," Marzel said. "I am happy that the Supreme Court has approved the destruction of an illegal home, but there are thousands more like it that have to be taken down as well."
The murderer's home, in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukabar, has been targeted for destruction since the massacre on March 6 of last year. His family members, who set up a mourners' tent in his honor decorated with Hamas and Hizbullah flags, hold Israeli IDs, as did the murderer himself.
Israel news photo: Zaka
The terrorist entered the Yeshiva library on a Thursday evening, when many students were in another wing of the building celebrating the upcoming joyous Purim month of Adar, and opened fire on the students sitting and studying. Only after some minutes were two men - part-time yeshiva student Yitzchak Dadon, and yeshiva graduate and paratroopers officer David Shapira - able to fire at the murderer and kill him.
Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, a former head of the General Security Service, said six days after the murders that the home should be razed, in accordance with customary practice regarding terrorist murderers.
He also said that Arab residents of Jerusalem have been involved in at least 20% of terrorist attacks against Israelis. Dichter added that Israel must find ways, including expulsion, to deal with Israeli-Arab terrorists who use their State-granted privileges to harm the State.
Despite Dichter's order to raze the house, legal obstacles surfaced almost immediately when the relevant army officials refused to sign the order. Only in August did Defense Minister Ehud Barak give his consent to have the home razed.
The Arab family appealed the decision, was turned down, appealed again - and has now received final word that there will be no more appeals and that the portion in which the murderer lived is to be sealed.
Deputy Supreme Court Chief Justice Eliezer Rivlin overruled the family's claim citing the fact that "home razing orders" were not issued in three years. He stated that the order may be implemented even against citizens, that it jibes with Israel's Basic Laws, and that it serves Israel's deterrence needs.
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