
According to a report by Channel 12 News, the National Security Council is proposing that the government evacuate Khan al-Ahmar in accordance with the rulings of the Supreme Court, but the outpost will be rebuilt a few hundred meters away.
Regavim CEO Meir Deutsch speaks with Israel National News about the proposed compromise and reiterates that he considers this another surrender by the Israeli government. "The area in question, the Mishor Adumim area, is the most strategic, lying between Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley Jericho and Ramallah. That's why the place gets so much attention from the PA and the EU."
"This is a small collection of huts, one of dozens in the same area, one of hundreds established in Area C. The strategic location is what draws this attention. The defense minister's desire to whitewash the place is the realization of the Palestinian strategy to take over the area," Deutsch says.
"It establishes land grabs in the heart of this strategic area. It should be understood that the State of Israel has already invested tens of millions in the development of an existing neighborhood in Abu Dis, with roads, plazas, electricity and sewage infrastructure. There are plots developed and ready for free distribution to the tribe's residents. The state informed the Supreme Court that this was the ideal solution for it, and after the delay the state said it was trying to negotiate. The idea the Defense Ministry came up with is about moving three hundred meters and fixing them in the heart of this strategic area, and this is not an agreed plan. The villagers have already announced that they oppose any movement, even one meter. So it makes no sense to move them. The State of Israel must do what is good for it.
And perhaps all the parties involved in the matter are merely trying to prevent a physical confrontation that will not end in a local conflict but will cause diplomatic problems far beyond, including the possibility of a diplomatic confrontation with the Europeans? "The state is trying, but through the displacement of 300 meters it is not avoiding confrontation, because the residents have announced that they will not move and so this solution also does not prevent conflict. It is the worst of all worlds, because it establishes a Palestinian outpost in the heart of the territory without preventing a confrontation."
According to Deutsch, the proper and correct solution is the one that the state is already promoting itself, that is, the transfer of the residents of Khan al-Ahmar to the neighborhood that has already been established for them in Abu Dis. "The state owns the land and it should run it as a landlord and not as a guest. It is the state's conduct as a guest that invites international violence and pressure. If the state were to run it as a landlord the world would understand who owns the land and so would the Palestinians on the ground."
Deutsch notes that the residents of Khan al-Ahmar themselves are also interested in the solution offered to them by the state, but "the PA and the European Union are preventing this from happening for them."
In his opinion, "the government will try to drag it out as much as it can, but the solution is certainly possible".