Jewish Home MK Bezalel Smotrich arrived at the town of Amona Wednesday morning ahead of the planned eviction, after a general closure was imposed by the army.
Smotrich slammed the Supreme Court, which ordered the demolition, and said the impending eviction would be extremely painful for the town’s 42 families and their supporters.
“The government is being forced to do something really terrible – to destroy a town in the Land of Israel,” said Smotrich.
“The evacuation will be painful, just as it is always painful when something terrible happens – like when a woman is raped, that’s painful; what they are doing here is a brutal rape.”
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) emphasized that her party had done all it could to prevent the demolition.
“We did the maximum possible, and the residents of Amona know that. I don’t want to put the blame for the demolition onto anyone in the coalition,” Shaked added, alluding to criticism of Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon’s (Kulanu) opposition to granting retroactive protection to Amona in the soon-to-be passed Regulation Law.
IDF forces shut off the access road leading to Amona early Wednesday morning ahead of the planned demolition.
Hundreds of demonstrators have gathered in the town to protest the eviction.