The far-left Meretz party condemned the compromise deal hammered out between the town of Evyatar and the Defense Ministry, hinting at a possible coalition crisis just weeks after the new government was sworn in.
Speaking with Radio 103FM Wednesday morning, Meretz MK Mossi Raz excoriated the Bennett government for agreeing to allow Evyatar to remain in place and offering the possibility of allowing residents to resettle the area if the land is verified to be state-owned.
Raz said the deal reached with residents of the unauthorized town shows the new government is further to the Right than its predecessor, and warned that the Meretz faction could bolt if the coalition continues on this path.
“This government will split apart if it continues like this,” said Raz. “We spend every night in the Knesset working to pass all kinds of laws in the government which make it 20 degrees more right-wing than the previous government.”
“I can’t understand that this is the final deal,” Raz continued. “If it is, this is really serious. Bennett promised a government that is [just] 10 degrees more right-wing than its predecessor. This is simply insane. You’re enabling criminals and terrorists, letting them decide where an army base will be established.”
Raz lambasted the dozens of families living in Evyatar, calling them “thieves who stole land.”
“They’re really terrorists. Terrorism means using violence. If you steal land, and as a result of that violent military clashes break out and people are killed, so what word you want me to call them?”
On June 11th, an Arab rioter was shot and killed by IDF forces near Evyatar, leading some on the Left to blame the town for the rioter’s death.
Late Tuesday night, residents of Evyatar formally accepted the outline for normalization of the community.
The outline includes most of the details of the previous outline, with the significant change being that a yeshiva will be established in Evyatar only in a few months, after the end of the rapid survey procedure of the land and its declaration as state land, according to law.
According to the outline, the families are expected to leave their homes by the end of the week. A company of soldiers will arrive at the site until the end of the land surveying process. Once it has been determined that these are state lands, a hesder yeshiva will be established at the site and, later on, a community in accordance with the law.
The town of Evyatar was first established in April 2013 in memory of Evyatar Borovsky, who was killed in a terrorist attack at the nearby Tapuah junction.
The town was re-established by the Nahala and Emunim movements in response to the shooting attack that took place at Tapuah junction, in which Yehuda Guetta was critically injured and later died of his wounds.
The community is home to 53 families, and has a nursery, a Torah study hall, roads and infrastructure.