Just weeks after Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that the illegal Arab construction in the Wye Accords Nature Reserve in Gush Etzion would be enforced, IDF Central Command Commanding Officer Avi Bluth signed orders allowing for the enforcement.
The orders will allow for the demolition of illegally built structures and will substantially limit the ability to construct new buildings on the site.
Following the decision MK Yuli Edelstein, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and co-chairman of the Land of Israel Caucus told Arutz Sheva-Israel National News: “For years, we have monitored the Palestinian Authority’s systematic abuse of the Wye Accords-designated nature reserve. The State of Israel has turned a blind eye to the danger for far too long, and we can no longer continue to do so.
"I am pleased that as a result of our intensive efforts and engagement with all the relevant actors, orders have been issued that will restore law and order to the nature reserve. At issue are the physical boundaries of the State of Israel, and after launching a battle of containment, we have now switched gears to a campaign that will include significant enforcement of international treaties and push back against the de facto annexation that has been going on in plain sight in the nature reserve.”
Meir Deutsch, Director General of Regavim applauded the move: "The members of the Security cabinet, the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and the Land of Israel Caucus, together with municipal leaders of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and the residents of this embattled region have shown us that true leadership is not a thing of the past. Tonight we have seen that perseverance can change policy and create a new reality.
"The orders are an important step forward," added Deutsch, "but we will continue to fight to ensure that they're only the first step. We hope this is the dawn of a new era of Israeli commitment to protecting our national resources and restoring our sovereignty throughout the Land of Israel."