Regavim Movement filed an administrative petition with the Jerusalem District Court on Sunday against Defense Minister Israel Katz, Minister in the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich, the IDF Central Command chief, and the deputy head of the Civil Administration, demanding that the authorities immediately fulfill their legal obligations and enforce the law against two illegal permanent structures built on declared state land in Area C, adjacent to the Bar Kochba community in the Gush Etzion Regional Council.
“This is a blatant criminal encroachment built in the heart of the area designated for the community’s expansion. It effectively blocks the planned access road and poses a tangible security threat to motorists and the entire surrounding area."
At the heart of the petition is what Regavim describes as a glaring contradiction in the conduct of the state authorities. In 2024, the Israeli government designated the establishment of Bar Kochba as a national objective of strategic and security importance, intended to ensure territorial contiguity between Gush Etzion and Jerusalem and prevent a Palestinian takeover of the commanding ridges. Yet enforcement authorities have shown complete inaction in the face of the illegal construction that has emerged there.
According to data presented by Regavim, the construction is part of a systematic and carefully planned effort by the Palestinian Authority to expand construction from Areas B into Area C, with the aim of creating irreversible facts on the ground and restricting Israeli freedom of action and settlement in the area.
The petition emphasizes that Regavim turned to the courts only after exhausting administrative channels over the course of a full year. During that period, the organization sent three warnings and urgent appeals to the defense establishment and Civil Administration, but received no meaningful response. Regavim says the enforcement failure is not only a severe blow to the rule of law and public trust, but also a serious distortion of the priorities set by the authorities themselves, which require immediate action against illegal construction and encroachment on state land.
The Bar Kochba community was established in the Nahal Haletz area, which lies at the center of a Palestinian campaign for international recognition as a “Palestinian heritage site." The Palestinian Authority has sought UNESCO recognition for the area and has promoted what Regavim describes as false campaigns, with the assistance of foreign organizations, to support Arab encroachment onto land owned by the Jewish National Fund (JNF).
Roi Drucker, Regavim’s director for Judea and Samaria, said: “The reality in which Palestinian construction offenders freely erect structures on state land, block a vital access route and thwart a national master plan represents a complete failure of leadership and security. The state cannot designate Bar Kochba as a strategic anchor while allowing the Palestinian Authority, on the ground, to determine the borders and choke the community. We cannot continue hiding behind excuses of ‘priorities’ while the land is slipping away beneath our feet. We demand decisive enforcement, the immediate demolition of the structures, and the restoration of governance and sovereignty to the Gush Etzion area."