Tensions between Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria (Yesha) and the government continue to run high. Stop-work orders have been issued issued, there are fears of imminent evictions and destruction in Samaria, and a suspected hit-and-run case was reported near Shilo.
At Havat Gilad (Gilad Farm), one of the highest-profile outpost neighborhoods on the Netanyahu-Barak government’s chopping block, the Civil Administration issued 14 stop-work orders against ongoing construction on Wednesday. Just a few days earlier, police issued orders to take down 11 buildings in Havat Gilad and other Jewish communities in the Shomron.
Havat Gilad, between Kedumim and Yitzhar, was violently destroyed in the past, but was rebuilt and now houses 20 families and a yeshiva. It is one of two neighborhoods named for Gilad Zar, a regional security officer who was murdered by Palestinian terrorists in May 2001. The other one is Ramat Gilad, near Karnei Shomron.
Special Eviction Unit in Training
Daniella Weiss, a former mayor of Kedumim, says, “There is a perpetual fear that there could be an eviction at any time. We have stepped up our scouting array… On the one hand, nothing specific is happening on the ground, but on the other hand, we know that a special IDF unit has been established for the purpose of evicting outpost residents, and they are training towards this end.”
Regarding the stop-work orders, Weiss told Israel National News, “This is a psychological trick, and also a way of heading off any legal claims that we might have later; they’ll say that they gave all the required legal notices before carrying out the destruction and expulsion.”
Resident Accuses Official of Hit-and-Run
Meanwhile, further south, in Adei Ad near Shilo, a resident says he was run over and abandoned by a Civil Administration inspector. The suspect was arrested but later released, causing a storm of protest.
The incident occurred three days ago, when Gilad Pollack said he tried to write down the license plate number of a Civil Adminstration official whom he saw trying to remove a generator from a building. Pollack said the man had arrived to distribute orders informing residents of upcoming destructions of illegal structures. “I tried to take a picture of him, but he knocked down my camera” Pollack said. “Finally I was able to photograph him, and then I tried to write down his license number. While I was doing that, he stepped on the gas and ran me down. I fell on the ground, and he escaped. I was treated in a hospital, and filed a police complaint.”
The alleged perpetrator was found, arrested, and released on bail the same day.
MK Ariel Protests
MK Uri Ariel has protested the quick release to Public Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonvitch: “I ask you to please look into why someone who was arrested for running someone over and abandoning an injured person should be immediately released with no restrictions… One who receives authority from the law enforcement bodies and abuses it without humanity must be distanced from his position immediately.”
MK Ariel asked Aharonovitch for complete data on the amount of hit-and-run suspects throughout the country who are released immediately after questioning and without restrictions.
The Civil Administration says the claim that its employee ran down a resident is baseless, and that its purpose is merely to “malign the Civil Administration inspectors who are busy day and night enforcing the law.” The Administration accuses the residents of having “found a new system – filing false police complaints – to impede the law enforcement work.”