WhatsappKhan al Ahmar is an illegal Bedouin outpost that is being used by the Palestinian Authority and European Union to steal Israeli land in Judea and Samaria. Instead of Israel enforcing the law and destroying this illegal outpost, Israeli PM Netanyahu has suspended enforcing the law of the Supreme Court indefinitely. If Israel does not remove these Bedouin squatters from the land they have stolen, then Israel is allowing the European Union to help the Palestinian Authority to steal Israeli land. This is a disgrace.
Khan al Ahmar is a Really Big Deal
The Palestinian Authority is doing everything it can to take control of the strategic Adumim region, in order to create territorial contiguity between Ramallah, Bethlehem and Jericho. Khan al Ahmar is a test case for the rule of law and Israel’s ability to govern.
Recently Israeli MK Yoav Kisch, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party visited Khan al Ahmar. He called upon the Prime Minister “Enough talk. It’s time to evacuate this outpost. Khan al Ahmar is another attempt by the Palestinian Authority to undermine Israeli sovereignty – an attempt funded by the European Union to seize and control land that belongs to the State of Israel. Now is the time to enforce the law and evacuate this illegal outpost.”
At the conclusion of the tour, Natan Engelsman, Chairman of the Likud’s Nationalist Forum, said that he expected MK Kisch to convene an urgent session of the Knesset Internal Affairs Committee, to ensure that the Supreme Court’s decisions are implemented without delay.
Yigal Dilmoni, Acting Director of the Yesha Council of Judea and Samaria, participated in the tour: “There is firm legal, judicial, and political support for the implementation of the High Court of Justice’s ruling on the evacuation of Khan al Ahmar. Now more than ever, it is imperative that we do not fold under Palestinian Authority pressure or give in to the PA’s ongoing attempts to seize control of Area C. I congratulate MK Yoav Kisch, who has sent out a call today to evacuate this illegal outpost immediately.”
Netanyahu and Khan al Ahmar
For years, Prime Minister Netanyahu has implemented a policy of selective law enforcement against Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria. Whenever there has been a legal question about Jewish homes, and the Supreme Court has ruled for their destruction, even when legal solutions existed to permit the homes to stay, Prime Minister Netanyahu has repeatedly said that there was nothing the State could do but enforce the rulings of the Supreme Court. Many times, legal solutions were approved to replace the need for destroying Jewish homes. Yet the Supreme Court ignored those legal solutions and instead ruled that they must be destroyed. PM Netanyahu did not step in because democracy obeys the rulings of the Supreme Court.
However, in the case of Khan al Ahmar, even though the Supreme Court ruled that it must be destroyed, PM Netanyahu put a stay on the destruction. The State of Israel has even already constructed an alternative location for them to move to, receiving large parcels of land for free for their new homes. Yet, the Prime Minister caved in to European Union pressure and stopped the court ordered destruction.
The case of Khan al Ahmar highlights the discrimination of the law between Jews and Arabs in Judea and Samaria. In the cases of legal irregularities in the Jewish communities of Amona, Ofra, Beit El and Netiv HaAvot, the Supreme Court’s rulings to destroy all the homes were implemented to the letter. But in the case of the Palestinian Authority’s flagship outpost, which was created as part of publicly-declared, strategic program to take control of areas under full Israeli jurisdiction, PM Netanyahu has given in to the European Union pressure and stopped the implementation of the law.
If Prime Minister Netanyahu does not move these illegal squatters from Israeli state land, then he is allowing for parts of Judea and Samaria under Israeli control, also called Area C, to be taken over by the Palestinian Authority with European assistance. The Prime Minister cannot shift the blame in the direction of the Supreme Court; he has no one to blame but himself.
Giving the Prime Minister the benefit of the doubt, maybe he does plan on allowing the authorities to implement the Supreme Court judgement and have this illegal outpost destroyed with the squatters moved to a different place not allowing the Palestinian Authority to steal our land. Maybe because of the latest military operation on the Northern border to stop the Hezbollah terror tunnel infrastructure, Netanyahu wanted to delay the evacuation to another time. Maybe this is the reason. However, it will be a very bad precendent if Netanyahu in the end allows this illegal Palestinian Authority outpost to remain on Israeli state land.
The truth about the removal of the illegal Bedouin hamlet Khan al-Ahmar
