The High Court Wednesday gave the government a 30-day limit to answer tough questions on the legality of the ban against Jews to build in Judea and Samaria. The justices indicated there would be no extension if satisfactory explanations are not ready in time because the 10-month freeze already has been in place for a month.
Four different appeals were filed against the freeze, which has turned many Jews in Judea and Samaria into lawbreakers for trying to continue construction on homes for which they already have invested tens of thousands of dollars.
The High Court judges ordered the government to answer several questions, some of which state attorneys complained cannot be addressed immediately: When will a committee be set up to answer damage claims from Jewish residents? Who will be allowed to appeal to the committee? What procedures will be followed and how will decisions be carried out?
The High Court in the past several years has taken the side of individuals who are unfairly harmed by the government, and the building freeze appears to be no exception. However, residents of Judea and Samaria are particularly worried because of the government’s mishandling the promised help for Gush Katif expulsion victims, many of whom still are without permanent homes more than four years after the government destroyed their homes.
Israel Law Center attorney said he was disappointed that the High Court did not accept the petitioners' demands for an immediate suspension of the freeze pending answers to the court's questions. Attorney Yossi Fuchs stated that the freeze “gravely damages the rights of buyers and that it has no connection with security. He pointed that the freeze was imposed without any warning, precluding any appeals to the government.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has stated that the reason for the freeze was to lure the Palestinian Authority to resume diplomatic negotiations for the establishment of a new Arab state on the land of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. However, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has refused the offer and has demanded a permanent freeze that also would include eastern Jerusalem.
Abbas also wants Israel to agree to accept the 1949-1967 borders as the new boundaries of Israel before meeting with the Netanyahu government.