The Civil Administration branch of the IDF, which has methodically destroyed unauthorized outposts throughout Judea and Samaria in the last few months, took a far-reaching step Wednesday when it evacuated a caravan (mobile home without wheels) from a community west of the security fence in a large settlement bloc.
The location of the destroyed caravan is contiguous to the part of Israel stretching to the Tel Aviv area.
Dozens of police officers accompanied by soldiers and border police officers descended on the Magen Dan community of Elkanah, located only 10 kilometers away from Petach Tikvah and part of the Ariel settlement bloc assumed to be included as part of Israel in any future agreement with the Palestinian Authority.
The caravan allegedly had been built without authorization. Security forces quickly evacuated the structure even though the residents had already agreed to move the caravan into the nearby Elkanah within a matter of days. The Civil Administration also placed destruction orders on more structures within the community and warned to return.
Magen Dan was founded in 1995, six years before the cutoff point of September 2001, after which any outpost founded is considered to be unauthorized and slated for demolition by Defense Minister Ehud Barak. It numbers 30 families and is located next to an army base which houses 200-300 soldiers.
“The Civil Administration hasn’t stepped foot in Magen Dan for six years,” resident A. said, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The Defense Ministry built a fence around the community and we had an oral agreement that we could build within the boundaries of the fence. Barak included Magen Dan within the municipal boundaries of Elkanah when he was the head of Central Command.”
A month ago, inspectors from the Civil Administration arrived in the neighborhood and wanted to place destruction orders on the two newest caravans in Magen Dan. The residents managed to reach a compromise with the army by which the first caravan, which was already occupied, would remain, and the second, which was still being built, would be moved into Elkanah.
“Everything was done here with complete agreement between us and the army,” A. explained. “We already agreed with a girl’s high school to move the caravan into Elkanah. But today they came and wouldn’t listen to anyone, not even the regional council head, Tzadok Zehorai. A caravan mover was on his way to move the structure, but they took the caravan without listening.
“I told the civil administration officials who were personally involved, Roi Asayag and Tzvika Cohen, that they destroyed the trust we had between us. This was an act of pure evil. They told us we simply built at the wrong time and in the wrong place.”
The evacuation in Magen Dan comes only a week after security forces tried to destroy three caravans in Bnei Adam, just north of Jerusalem. That expulsion was called off after Binyamin Regional Council head Avi Roeh said the caravans would be moved into nearby Adam, but the residents later refused to leave. A Supreme Court injunction against destroying the three structures expired Tuesday night.