Nearly three dozen MKs, including Deputy Ministers, have sent an official letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu demanding that he prevent the destruction of 33 homes in two Jewish neighborhoods in Judea and Samaria: Givat HaYovel in Eli, and Haresha, both north of Jerusalem.
The two have been approved in the past, but are lacking final permits from Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The radical-left Peace Now organization stepped in and sued in court for their demolition – and a final decision is to be made in the near future.
Throughout Israel’s history, dozens of towns, kibbutzim and moshavim were built and populated well before receiving final approval.
Haresha, with a total of 40 families, was founded on a hilltop in western Binyamin, some 20 kilometers north-northwest of Jerusalem, in 1997. It overlooks and thus protects the Talmonim bloc of communities, including Talmon, Neriah and Dolev.
The nine permanent homes in the neighborhood are now endangered, as are the 24 homes in Givat HaYovel in Eli, just northwest of Shilo. Among the families there are the widows and children of two young fallen IDF war heroes, Ro'i Klein and Eliraz Peretz.
At the same time, the Supreme Court has called off, for now, the destruction of 30 illegal Bedouin mansions in the Negev. The decision was handed down on Monday after the Abu Basma Local Authority appealed the demolition orders approved in February by the Court for Administrative Matters in Be'er Sheva. The villas will not be razed for now, at least until the appeal is heard and decided.
The MKs of the Land of Israel Knesset Lobby will pay a solidarity visit to Eli and Haresha this Thursday. Their letter to Netanyahu asks for both compassion and the use of the judicial-legal options at the State’s disposal:
“These neighborhoods, built on state lands, can be legalized, and the process involved is used routinely in other areas of the country. In fact, these two neighborhoods are being discriminated against only because of their geographical location in Judea and Samaria, and their legalization has been held up for inappropriate reasons.”
“Of late, the public has been exposed to two model personalities of these areas, Major Ro’i Klein and Maj. Eliraz Peretz, may G-d avenge their blood, and was inspired by the strength of their courage and leadership, as well as the pioneering Zionist spirit of their families. Just like these two families, their neighbors in these towns are also Zionist pioneers who contribute greatly to Israel’s security. We feel that the State of Israel must heartily adopt these pioneers, and not cut down with its own hand their homes and lifelong enterprises.”
The 35 signatories include four deputy ministers, six Knesset party faction heads, and representatives of seven coalition and opposition parties. Their names:
Likud: Lobby co-chairman Ze’ev Elkin, Gila Gamliel, Chaim Katz, Leah Ness, Orli Levy Abukasis, Yariv Levine, Ayoub Kara, Ophir Akunis, Danny Danon, Tzion Pinian, Miri Regev, Tzipi Hotovely, Carmel Shama
National Union: Lobby co-chairman Aryeh Eldad, Yaakov Katz, Uri Ariel, Michael Ben-Ari
Jewish Home: Uri Orbach, Zevulun Orlev
Shas: David Azulai, Chaim Amsalem, Avraham Michaeli, Yitzchak Vaknin, Nissim Ze’ev, Amnon Cohen
United Torah Judaism: Meir Porush, Menachem Moses
Israel Our Home: Anastasia Michaeli, Alex Miller, Rober Ilatov, David Rotem, Yulia Shamalov-Berkovitz, Hamed Amar, Fania Kirschenbaum
Kadima: Otniel Schneller
Maj. Klein was killed in the summer of 2006, during the Second Lebanon War. While fighting for control of the hostile village of Bint Jbil in southern Lebanon, Maj. Klein and his men were ambushed by Hizbullah terrorists. At one point, Klein began treating one of his wounded comrades, at which point a terrorist hurled a grenade at the group. Ro'i yelled out "Shma Yisrael" and jumped upon the grenade, absorbing the brunt of the explosion, saving the men around him, and breathing his last a few seconds later.
Maj. Peretz was killed last month in a clash with Moslem Arab terrorists in Gaza.