Highway 70 east of Haifa was blocked for ten hours Tuesday by members of the Druze minority, who are unhappy with the compensation the state has offered them for expropriated agricultural land. The land was taken for laying a natural gas pipeline. 12 policemen were hurt in the riots; four of them required evacuation to a hospital.
The rioters blocked the highway between HaAmakim and HaTishbi junctions, between Megiddo and Haifa, causing massive traffic jams. It was evening before police managed to push them out of the road, but the Druze continued to crowd near the road, threatening to block it again.
The Druze say the compensation they were offered is unfair and accuse the state of “betraying” them despite what they say is their loyalty and the fact that they serve in the IDF.
A three kilometer stretch of the pipeline passes through land owned by Druze agriculturalists. A compensation contract for the expropriated land was recently signed, after Deputy Minister Ayoub Kara negotiated an agreement between the state and the Druze.
This week, however, the Druze announced that they were unhappy with the agreement they had signed. Official sources said that the agreement actually gives the Druze higher compensation than that offered to other agriculturalists in the area.