The Supreme Court, responding to a Peace Now lawsuit, has ordered a halt to the construction of 11 new homes in the town of Halamish (Neveh Tzuf) in the area of western Binyamin (northwest of Jerusalem).
No Arabs have claimed ownership of the land in question. Peace Now, however – an left-wing organization that is bent on ending the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria – filed suit with the Supreme Court against the construction. The grounds for Peace Now’s suit is that there are allegedly no zoning plans or construction permits for the homes.
Shifra Blass, spokesperson for the town, told Israel National News, “The homes are being built in the middle of the town – similar to the homes in the town of Ofrah that [Defense Minister Ehud] Barak just approved for that reason. The issue is purely a political one – why should the Supreme Court be at all involved in a technical zoning dispute? If my neighbor builds a porch that I don’t like, would I take it to the Supreme Court? Or would the Supreme Court hear a petition against illegal Arab construction down the road? But when we want to build, the Supreme Court issues a restraining order; it’s not a legal issue, but rather political.”
Blass explained that Peace Now “apparently waited until just this month to file their petition, when the buildings are very much advanced and the monetary loss caused by stopping them would be greater.”
Peace Now claims on its website that it began tracking the buildings six months ago, and turned to the relevant authorities, but that the structures were “built at a dizzying pace,” until they “were forced” to turn to the High Court.
Town officials say that it will receive the necessary approvals retroactively, as often occurs – not only in Judea and Samaria, but elsewhere in Israel.
Peace Now wants to ensure, however, that the State of Israel “pays the price” for building homes for Jews in the Land of Israel. “If the government wants to approve this new neighborhood in Judea and Samaria,” the Peace Now website states, “it should do so openly, with an official decision and a detailed plan, and pay the political and diplomatic price.”
The restraining order was issued on Sunday, May 31, by Justice Edna Arbel.