Netanyahu Pledges To ‘Strengthen Settlement’ in West Bank
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the Civil Administration on Sunday night to take the necessary action to allow Jewish settlers back into a contested house in the West Bank city of Hebron.
In April 2012, a group of settlers moved into the house, claiming that they had purchased the property, which is located not far from the Cave of the Patriarchs. After reviewing the deed, the Civil Administration invalidated the purchase, citing faults in the transaction. Under the martial law in the territories, any real estate deal must first be approved by an Israeli army commander.
Consequently, then-Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered that the house be evacuated.
Since then, settlers in Hebron have been waging a legal battle to gain recognition for the transaction. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has pledged in the past that if the deal is deemed legal, the settlers would receive authorization to move in from the military as well.
On Sunday night, Netanyahu ordered that the house be inhabited without delay.
Read more at Haaretz.com.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO