The Gush Etzion Regional Council has published its city plan for the Netiv Ha’avot neighborhood in the community of Elazar.
Gush Etzion Regional Council head Shlomo Ne’eman responded to the news saying, “Today is a day of celebration for Gush Etzion, the community of Elazar, and especially for the residents of Netiv Ha’avot. The Netiv Ha’avot affair can serve as a resounding reminder of how much injustice the legal system can inflict on an ordinary citizen.”
Twelve years after homes were built in Netiv Ha’avot, Peace Now appealed to the High Court to destroy the homes based on the disputed legal status of tiny sections, sometimes only a foot or two, of the land on which they were built. There were no Arabs who claimed ownership and the homeowners offered to destroy the disputed parts of their homes where possible, while the state asked for time to register those areas properly. The Supreme Court summarily rejected both suggestions for compromise and ruled that the fifteen homes containing small non-registered areas be destroyed.
Now, five years after the destruction of Netiv Ha’avot, the municipal building plan for the regulation of the neighborhood has been published. The plan also includes approximately 430 housing units in the town of Elazar where Netiv Ha'avot is a neighborhood.
Publication of building plans is an integral first step in ensuring that the construction will be carried out.
The plan provides regulation for the homes of 15 families who were evacuated in June 2018, and will include, as mentioned, approximately 430 houses. This plan is designated for a future neighborhood, which will expand Elazar.
"Today at the council you could sense the excitement, especially in the engineering wing, whose staff worked hard on the plan," Ne'eman said. "To me, personally, it represents closure of what began during those days of struggle when I accompanied the residents as their new mayor, and which has culminated in the drawing and regulation of this plan, and with G-d's help, the construction, which will begin soon."
"The current plan corrects a legal injustice and also almost doubles the size of the Elazar neighborhood. Today is a day of celebration for Gush Etzion, the community of Elazar, and especially the residents of Netiv Ha’avot."