This morning, a structure in the Benyamin-region community of Esh Kodesh belonging to a fighter in the elite IDF marine unit was removed, on grounds that it was illegally built on state land.
Sources inside the community who spoke with Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan told Arutz Sheva that the Minister is checking the circumstances of the removal, and also promised to clarify the policies implied in such incidents for the future.
It will be noted that, as per the so-called “fresh invasion” policy established during the tenure of former Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, the civil administration can remove illegal structures on state, private or agricultural land immediately, without waiting for a decision from the political echelon.
The Deputy Defense Minister’s office noted that “the removal of the structure was carried out without the knowledge of the Minister. The Minister will check the matter and, if needed, policies will be clarified or even changed.”
The Otef Yerushalayim Forum, which acts to prevent illegal Palestinian building, also addressed the incident: “We are shocked, each time anew, by the efficiency of the civil administration whenever removing Jewish structures on state land is concerned, in contrast to its criminal procrastination which prevents the removal of hundreds of illegal Palestinian structures on state land. It’s inconceivable that there should be one policy for Jews and another for Palestinians and the European Union. We demand that Defense Minister Liberman and Deputy Defense Minister Ben-Dahan act to consolidate Jewish sovereignty in area C, and verify that the parameters which guide bureaucrats to run and destroy Jewish structures also apply to Palestinian structures.”