Residents of Mitzpe Kramim blasted the Supreme Court Friday, following the ruling Thursday ordering the town to be evacuated and dismantled.
Doron Leshem, the spokesperson for the town, said that while it was possible some plots used to build the town had infringed on private Arab property, it did not justify the town’s demolition, particularly in light of the Supreme Court’s refusal to allow the home of an Arab terrorist to be demolished.
“You don’t fix a wrong with another wrong. Sometimes mistakes occur, and people settle on private land. But it is outrageous that the Supreme Court defends the home of a terrorist who murdered and IDF soldier, but then throws out 45 families from their homes,” said Leshem during an interview with Reshet Bet.
“We won’t give up, we don’t intend to evacuate.”
Shai Maimon, a resident of Mitzpe Kramim and father of five, also excoriated the court’s ruling.
“They’re going to destroy my home. A home built by the state. A home which was evacuated from another location, and the state decided where to relocate it. The home of a law-abiding citizen. A tax-payer who is second-in-command of an IDF battalion. A person wounded in a terror attack.”
“This is a home with seven people living in it. A home which celebrates Independence Day and mourns on Memorial Day. A house of Jewish tradition and Zionism. But the home of a terrorist who murders soldiers won’t [be demolished]. Why?”
On Thursday, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the state to demolish the town of Mitzpe Kramim, ruling two-to-one against a petition to normalize the status of the town.
Justices Esther Hayut and Hanan Melcer wrote the majority opinion to reject the petition to normalize Mizpe Kramim. Justice Neal Hendel wrote the minority opinion.
Home to 45 families, Mitzpe Kramim is located on the edge of the Binyamin district of Samaria, northeast of Beit El and south of Shiloh, overlooking the Jordan Valley.
The town was marked for demolition after Palestinian Arabs from the Palestinian Authority town of Deir Jarir claimed ownership over some of the plots used to build Mitzpe Kramim.
The court’s ruling affects 34 of the roughly 45 buildings in Mitzpe Kramim, which the court ordered be demolished within 36 months.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu slammed the ruling, and vowed to “exhaust all processes” to try to permit the residents to remain in the town.
Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn (Blue and White) said he would contact the Attorney General and ask him to consider filing a request for another hearing in the Supreme Court.
“The Supreme Court's ruling adopts for the first time the principle of the regulation of the market, the use of which will enable the regulation of many hundreds of houses in Judea and Samaria. I welcome that.”
"However, this is a difficult ruling in relation to the residents of Mitzpe Kramim who moved into the place out of the belief that the land was taken by the army," Nissenkorn said. “Therefore, I intend to contact the Attorney General and ask him to consider filing a request for another hearing.”
“Of course any Supreme Court decision must be respected. "I strongly reject the blatant attacks against this important institution, which is a cornerstone of our democracy," the Justice Minister added.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court nullified an army order to demolish the home of Nizmi Abu Bakr, a 49-year-old terrorist and resident of the Palestinian Authority-controlled town of Yabad in the Jenin district.
Abu Bakr was arrested for the murder of 21-year-old IDF Soldier Amit Ben Yigal this May. Abu Bakr dropped a block on Ben Yigal from the third-story of his home while Ben Yigal's unit was leaving the village of Yabad following an arrest operation.