Amit Segal, Channel 12 News' political correspondent, reported on Sunday evening that sharp divisions have emerged within the government as the deadline for the State to reply to the Supreme Court regarding the evacuation of Khan al-Akhmar approaches.
"The government has just seven hours left to craft its final reply to the Supreme Court regarding Khan al-Akhmar, and divisions at cabinet level are preventing the State from producing the needed document," Segal reported.
Khan al-Akhmar is an illegal Arab outpost. In recent days, rumors began circulating that Defense Minister Benny Gantz is in favor of coming to a compromise whereby the outpost will be relocated just 300 meters away from his current position, and allocated land in Area C, which is supposed to remain in Israeli hands in any future partition of the country.
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar has insisted that his position remains unchanged: Khan al-Akhmar is to be evacuated without any compromise arrangement. Ministers Liberman, Shaked, and Elkin, as well as the Prime Minister and other coalition officials have also expressed themselves firmly in favor of a similar position, emphatically rejecting the idea of a compromise along the lines of what Gantz is proposing.
Meanwhile, members of the Jerusalem Area Forum have approached Interior Minister Shaked, asking her to take action toward the evacuation of the illegal Arab settlement. "We are turning to you, due to the fact that over the years, you have repeatedly expressed the belief that the Israeli government should evacuate Khan al-Akhmar without compromises or rewards for those who break the law," they wrote. "In advance of the country's most recent elections, you even promised that a government with yourself at the helm would indeed evacuate this illegal outpost," they reminded Shaked.
Despite such promises, the Forum members noted in their letter that the government has expressed its intention to simply relocate the outpost a distance of just a few hundred meters from its current position. "The significance of such a move is that the law is not being enforced but rather, that the outpost is being authorized and a reward given to those who break the law," they wrote. "Authorizing Khan al-Akhmar will necessarily lead to authorization of other Bedouin encampments and ultimately, to the establishment of a Palestinian village the size of a municipal council area, on the main artery to the east of Israel's capital, Jerusalem."
In their letter, Forum members also reminded Shaked of steps already taken by the government to solve the problem -- dozens of plots of land that have been prepared for Khan al-Akhmar's residents in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Abu Dis, at massive cost to the government.
"Ayelet, wake up now," the letter concludes. "Don't lend your support to the establishment of a huge Palestinian village in Area C on the main artery between Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley. Such a move would lead to lasting tragedy. Do not lend your support to a fatal blow being dealt to the security interests and settlement interests in the Jerusalem region. These lawbreakers want to choke off Jerusalem -- do not award them a prize! Enforce the law and evacuate Khan al-Akhmar, without compromises or shtick."