Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz plans to evacuate and dismantle additional outposts in Judea and Samaria in the coming days. The IDF destroyed an empty caravan and an antenna set up near the Adoraim army base in the Har Hevron region last night, meeting with no resistance. Orders from Mofaz to take down a second outpost - this one near Pnei Hever, southeast of Hevron - will be delayed following a petition to the Supreme Court by Baruch Ben-Yosef. Ben-Yosef is the father of security guard Yehuda Ben-Yosef who, along with Yoav Doron, was accidentally killed when IDF troops tragically mistook them for terrorists as they guarded the outpost on March 13. He wants the army to re-enact the fatal accident in order to learn precisely what happened.
It will be recalled that the widow and five orphans of terrorism victim Nati Ozeri were forcibly evicted from their outpost home outside Kiryat Arba five weeks ago, and their home destroyed, in another "illegal outpost" destruction.
Mt. Hevron Regional Council Mayor Tzviki Bar-Chai had strong words against the government's decision to destroy the Adoraim outpost: "The government's insistence on being so precise specifically with Jewish settlements, in a region rife with extensive illegal Arab construction, smacks of discrimination."
Yesterday, Civil Administration inspectors posted official announcements in two small outposts near Yitzhar in the Shomron, warning that they were next to be dismantled. One of them, Mitzpeh Yitzhar, has two permanent houses, in one of which lives Elchanan Zilber. He told Arutz-7 today that he has been living there for two years:
"We began by living in caravans, and invested good money in building our permanent homes here. My friend invested 350,000 shekels in his home; I haven't finished mine yet, but I've spent so far 250,000 shekels on it. It's true that these areas have not yet been legalized, but they are known as 'survey areas' - gray areas that are often a step away from being legalized... We are three families living here, plus singles."
Zilber admitted that the immediate problem is his own personal one, "but this is just the beginning for all of Yesha. Prime Minister Sharon wants to take down many more settlements. I don't agree that he is just doing this to placate public opinion and that he really won't go much further. I think we all have to worry." He concluded by saying that "nothing will break us - certainly not the loss of money or property. This is our land, and we are eternally bonded with it."
It will be recalled that the widow and five orphans of terrorism victim Nati Ozeri were forcibly evicted from their outpost home outside Kiryat Arba five weeks ago, and their home destroyed, in another "illegal outpost" destruction.
Mt. Hevron Regional Council Mayor Tzviki Bar-Chai had strong words against the government's decision to destroy the Adoraim outpost: "The government's insistence on being so precise specifically with Jewish settlements, in a region rife with extensive illegal Arab construction, smacks of discrimination."
Yesterday, Civil Administration inspectors posted official announcements in two small outposts near Yitzhar in the Shomron, warning that they were next to be dismantled. One of them, Mitzpeh Yitzhar, has two permanent houses, in one of which lives Elchanan Zilber. He told Arutz-7 today that he has been living there for two years:
"We began by living in caravans, and invested good money in building our permanent homes here. My friend invested 350,000 shekels in his home; I haven't finished mine yet, but I've spent so far 250,000 shekels on it. It's true that these areas have not yet been legalized, but they are known as 'survey areas' - gray areas that are often a step away from being legalized... We are three families living here, plus singles."
Zilber admitted that the immediate problem is his own personal one, "but this is just the beginning for all of Yesha. Prime Minister Sharon wants to take down many more settlements. I don't agree that he is just doing this to placate public opinion and that he really won't go much further. I think we all have to worry." He concluded by saying that "nothing will break us - certainly not the loss of money or property. This is our land, and we are eternally bonded with it."