Labor and Welfare Minister Haim Katz (Likud) on Monday visited the Netiv Ha'avot neighborhood in Elazar, together with Gush Etzion Regional Council Head Shlomo Neeman and neighborhood spokesman Ami Gvirtzman.
The Supreme Court in December 2016 ordered the destruction of Elazar's Netiv Ha'avot neighborhood, after an unclaimed strip of land was found to run through it.
During the meeting, Katz was shown the absurdity of the Supreme Court's decision, and the reasoning behind attempts to find another solution.
"I believe we can find solutions, save the homes, and that what happened in Ofra will not happen again," Katz said. "There is no reason that because 2% of each home sits on questionable land which is anyways unusable, we will destroy an entire family's life."
Neeman said, "We explained to Minister Katz the enormous absurdity in the ruling ordering the Netiv Ha'avot homes destroyed."
"We ask the government and its ministers to take responsibility for the residents of Netiv Ha'avot, whose homes are set to be demolished, to deal with the issue and prevent more destruction."
"Minister Katz said he would not even think of destroying homes because a tiny percentage of them sits on land which is not government land," Netiv Ha'avot residents said. "He is sure there is another solution which the Supreme Court will approve. He also promised to recruit Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon (Kulanu)."