While Defense Minister Ehud Barak was holding his annual Independence Day get-together for thousands of invitees, others gathered outside to protest the intention to destroy two Jewish neighborhoods in Samaria (Shomron). Two protestors were detained by police for questioning.
"We came here in order to save the homes in the Yovel neighborhood in Eli," an Eli resident named Erez told Israel National TV. "The Land of Israel belongs to us, and this includes all the homes in the Yovel neighborhood – these homes have all that is necessary on the legal level as well – everything is approved. All that's necessary is the signature of Defense Minister Barak, and that's why we're here: to tell Ehud Barak that it's time to look at the truth, that the state built these homes, and the state must authorize them."
"I came to remind the defense minister that Eli is in an area which was controlled by the people of Israel for centuries, and there are no Arabs claiming that the property on which Klein and Peretz's homes were built was stolen. Eli was built on state-owned land."
"And actually the Arabs claim ownership of the land on which this place here is built, the Defense Ministry in central Tel Aviv. And so, if there is any problem – it's right here and not in Eli. If this problem here is solved, Eli won't be a problem at all."
On the chopping block
The two neighborhoods – Yovel in Eli, near Shilo, and Haresha, in the Talmonim bloc between the city of Modiin and Beit El – are on the chopping block following a Peace Now court petition. The Supreme Court rejected the residents’ claim that the only thing precluding their homes’ complete legality is written approval from Defense Minister Ehud Barak – which, they maintain, he is withholding for solely political reasons. Instead, the Court demands that by May 1, the government present a schedule for the demolition of the 18 permanent homes in the two sites.
Barak himself wrote a letter to the Supreme Court, asking that the deadline be pushed off by six months – because of the fact that among the 18 families are the widows and orphans of two recently-fallen war heroes: Maj. Ro’i Klein and Maj. Eliraz Peretz. Klein fell while protecting his soldiers in the Second Lebanon War, and Peretz was killed last month in a battle with Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
Many in the nationalist camp criticized Barak for his letter, saying that he should simply legalize the neighborhoods and not ask for a postponement of their destruction.
The Tuesday night protestors outside the Defense Ministry offices carried signs reading “Destroying the homes is a prize for our enemies” and the like. Among them was Danny Danon (Likud), who called upon Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to remove the decision from Barak’s hands and authorize the neighborhood himself.
The Defense Ministry sent out some 4,000 invitations to the event – 1,000 fewer than in previous years, apparently because of the State Comptroller’s criticism of the grandiose event in the past. In addition, politicians and Labor Party members were not officially invited. The Comptroller found that last year’s event cost 1.5 million shekels (roughly $360,000 according to last year’s currency rates).
Barak told the assembled, “The battle for the State’s future has not yet ended… We are now in the battle for peace, which requires taking chances, courage and difficult, fateful decisions… I call on the leaders of the Arab world: Come in peace… Our hand extended to you is that of a strong nation, but one that seeks peace. Every day that passes is another missed chance for our children and your children.”