Evacuated Samarian outpost celebrates victory in Knesset

On Sunday, Jewish residents from the evacuated Samarian outpost of Migron were put on a list to receive priority treatment.

By World Israel News Staff

Jewish residents from the evacuated Samarian outpost of Migron received good news on Sunday. The government decided in its weekly meeting to put them on the National Priority list, which will speed up construction for new homes in the area where they’ve been relocated.

A post on Migron’s community Facebook page praised the plan as “a first and necessary step.”

However, it also noted “the critical phase starts now – we except from the prime minister to start immediately the process of building itself.”

“The time has come to stop the injustice that has gone on more than five years. The time for words and promises has ended and the time for deeds and establishing facts on the ground has arrived,” the post read.

Migron was evacuated in 2012 by order of Israel’s Supreme Court as it was built on private Palestinian land. The 50 families who lived there were moved to an area in the same region near the Psagot winery. Many of the families left the area because of the difficult conditions.

Last month, those that remained held a cornerstone ceremony marking the start of building more permanent homes.

The new Migron will not be considered its own town but a neighborhood of the existing town of Kochav Yaakov, which is located about one kilometer distant.

Migron, together with other towns and neighborhoods that made it on the National Priority list, will receive state help in connection with planning and development. Individuals will also receive help with obtaining apartment loans.

The plain meaning of the decision is that those families who were uprooted from the original location will receive help from for the building of their new homes, according to Israel Hayom.

Minister of Construction and Housing Yoav Galant said “Migron today is stronger than ever. Settlement in the region is the soul of Zionism and the foundation for the continued existence of the Jewish people in its land.”

“Migron was and will remain. This is a clear statement by the Israeli government that we will continue to develop and strengthen settlement,” he said.

Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran attacked the decision, saying it was part of a plan to make Migron its own town, and not part of an already established one, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Other settlements that made the National Priority list include Shvuet Rachel and Kerem Reim, both in the same region where Migron is located. They, too, will be considered neighborhoods of existing settlements.