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Destruction of Israeli neighborhood in Judea fueled by foreign funds

As the result of a successful initiative taken by foreign-funded groups on the extreme left, the High Court of Justice has ordered the demolition of Netiv Ha’Avot, a Jewish community in Judea. 

By: Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The Netiv Ha’Avot neighborhood in the Gush Etzion community of Elazar in Judea is slated for demolition on March 6 due to the order of the High Court of Justice (HCJ).

As is the case with many other such successful petitions, the instigators of the court case are extreme left-wing Israeli organizations that get a huge chunk of their operating funds from foreign entities.

The two primary organizations that constantly petition the courts to destroy Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are Yesh Din and Peace Now. According to a recent report by Zionist group Im Tirtzu, over the past five years Yesh Din has received a whopping NIS29 million ($8 million) from the European Union and countries such as Germany, Norway, Holland, Ireland and Great Britain. Most of the same names top the 2008-2017 donor list for Peace Now, which has received nearly NIS18.5 million ($5 million) during that time.

“It is inconceivable that European governments operate in Israel’s judicial system by means of radical anti-Israel NGOs rather than going through the proper diplomatic channels,” said Im Tirtzu Chairman Matan Peleg.

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‘An affront to the Israeli public’

“This European attempt to alter Israel’s internal policy not only harms Israeli sovereignty, but is an affront to the Israeli public who democratically elected its government. This subversive activity and use of lawfare against Israel must end immediately,” Peleg stated.

Fifteen families will now lose their homes because the HCJ ruled in favor of Peace Now in 2014, deciding that the houses had been partially built on privately owned Palestinian land. The HCJ even rejected a compromise proposed by the residents to cut off the “problematic parts” of six of the homes that only jut onto the allegedly private land by a few meters.

Two other supposedly illegal structures have already been taken down by Civil Administration personnel: a carpentry shop was destroyed last November, while a memorial dedicated to IDF Special Forces Lt. Col. Emmanuel Moreno, who was killed fighting terrorists in Lebanon, was removed in December.

However, the sword had been hanging over the neighborhood since 2008, when Peace Now challenged a decision by the state’s authorities that most of the area there was in fact state land and that it was completely permissible to build on it.

It was only last week that the Civil Administration granted approval to build temporary homes (caravans) in the nearby village of Alon Shvut for the soon-to-be-homeless families. However, it appears there will not be enough time to put up the housing before the demolition date arrives.

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Ministers of Jewish Home party fight back

Education Minister Naftali Bennett, chair of the Jewish Home party, and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) met Sunday evening with the Netiv Ha’avot residents and are working to delay the demolition and push the government to normalize the neighborhood’s status, Arutz-7 reported.

“The Supreme Court’s decision was a terrible mistake,” the two ministers stated. “Peace Now and other radical left-wing organizations are taking advantage of the Supreme Court for their own political needs. They need to be made to understand that for every house which is evacuated because of a Supreme Court ruling, we’ll make sure that the government authorizes another new town [in Judea and Samaria].”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed for the approval of a 70-million shekel ($19.8 million) spending package for alternative housing for the residents.