Ariel mayor: Amir Peretz is a villain

Settlement leader slams defense minister's decision to evacuate disputed house in Hebron, saying Peretz employing British mandate policies
Lilach Shoval

"There is a gang of villains sitting in the ministry of defense, led by Amir Peretz, who is using his position in the ministry to promote his own ideology and intentionally harm the day-to-day life in Judea and Samaria," Ariel Mayor Ron Nahman said on Friday following Defense Minister Amir Peretz's decision to evacuate Jewish settlers from a house they had occupied in Hebron.

A group of settlers moved into a house in the West Bank city claiming they had bought it legally from its Palestinian owner. The timetable for the implementation of the evacuation order has yet to be set.

According to Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh the decision to evacuate the settlers is based on a legal clause according to which any real estate deal in the West Bank must be authorized by the defense ministry and the disputed house in question did not receive Peretz's authorization.

"It's a lie that Jews are forbidden from purchasing property in Judea and Samaria, there is no such law," said Nahman, "they are trying to instill the idea that anyone living across the Green Line is a criminal into the Israeli consciousness. The authorizations for constructing houses and new towns are being delayed, for months now, and that didn't happen in even Rabin's time. This is very simply a White Paper policy."

The White Paper of 1939 was issued by the British government during the time of their mandate over Palestine and constituted a major shift from the 1917 pro-Zionist Balfour Declaration. The 1939 decree limited Jewish immigration to Palestine and the sale of land to Jews and sought to establish a joint government for Jews and Arabs.

Nahman asserted the rights of hundreds of thousands of Jews living in the West Bank are being trampled by Peretz, who Nahman said was only motivated by inter-party politics as his Labor Party gears up to elect a new leader in May.

Members of the Hebron Jewish Settlement Committee said in response to Peretz's decision, "We know that there is no reasonable basis for evacuating the house. We call on the defense minister not to make a

decision that means Jews will be expelled from their home for political-racial reasons."

"The defense minister's attempt to harass the Jewish settlement in Hebron is an indecent political and arbitrary attempt, and this attempt to damage the Jewish settlement in Hebron before its expected evacuation will fail," said MK Gideon Sa'ar of Likud.