Residents of Ramat Arbel in the lower Galilee were surprised to receive demolition orders on Tuesday for buildings in the village.
The orders were issued at a time when most of the village's male residents are serving in reserve duty and the residents note that Prime Minister Netanyahu promised in the past that reservists' houses would not be demolished.
Since the war began, the residents of Ramat Arbel have prevented several attempts to take over land and perform earthworks with heavy machinery by two Arab tribes in the area that attempted to take advantage of the war to seize the village's lands which according to a government decision are intended for hundreds of housing units for Jews.
The residents stated: "At a time when everyone is talking about the urgency to change the conception, it would seem that the enforcement authority's policy has stayed exactly the same as it has been for Simchat Torah, repeating the same mantras about equality between Jews and Arabs while ignoring the difficult national war that the Galilee has been in for the past 30 years."
They said further: "Likewise, at a time when the enforcement authority is complaining about a lack of manpower to enforce illegal Arab construction which has been rampant since the war broke out, it can't be that the limited manpower is directed toward the destruction of Jewish settlement in the Galilee. Besides a lack of morality, hurting the Jewish settlement of the Galilee at this time is a green light for the enemy to attack the residents of the north in general in the Galilee specifically."
The residents of Ramat Arbel added: "Now, during the war, of all times we all understand the strategic importance of settlements, especially in the Galilee. We received the orders with great pain and we call on the Israeli government to immediately approve a temporary site in the area so we can continue to protect these lands until a permanent site is established. In light of the orders, we call on the people of Israel to come to Ramat Arbel to strengthen the Jewish presence in the Galilee."