High Court considers settler appeals

JERUSALEM – Eleven High Court judges met Tuesday for a second round of deliberations regarding 12 petitions filed by settlers to declare the Evacuation Compensation Law illegal.

Deputy Supreme Court President Mishael Cheshin seemed compassionate towards anti-pullout right wing activists who claimed they had been financially deprived by the evacuation-compensation law.

Cheshin told state attorneys: “The People of Israel decided to disengage – the people of Israel should pay.”

Defending the petitioning settlers, Cheshin added: “They (settlers) do not want the value of the property, they want a substitute. This is not a question of the land’s value, this is a question of man’s respect.”

The state’s position seemed “petty,” Cheshin said. “They did not invade the place, the state sent them and millions were invested. These are flourishing places. You are talking about normal expropriation and a normal asset, but not about sums of money.”

Earlier in Tuesday’s discussion, High Court President Aharon Barak asked petitioners to hand him a detailed plan for a tour of Gush Katif, in which all deliberating justices will participate.

Barak’s requested tour is set to take the justices to the areas mentioned in the petitions. However, referring to the settlers, Barak said: “These people are hurting, and they would want to talk to us.”

Following the deliberations, Barak said, "We have learned a lot today, and the issue has penetrated our heart."

"The decision here will not be made only with the heart, but with the head as well," he added.

Half an hour per petition

Each petition was allocated only 30 minutes, enraging right-wing pullout opponents.

"Tens of thousands of people have been crippled by this process," said Yitzhak Maron of Legal Forum for Israel, referring to the short amount of time

Round One

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allocated to each petition. "Is it not important enough for the court to assign four or five days of discussion?"

He said he believes it is important for each of the 11 judges to visit the area slated for evacuation prior to making a decision.

"The state presented the court with three speeches by prime minister, in which he speaks about the importance of the pullout plan," he said. "The court deserves more. This just demonstrates that the state assumes the court will say 'Amen' to the disengagement plan."

Evacuation is 'immoral'

The pullout can be compared to murder and inheritance, Maron said.

"There is nothing more immoral than a murderer receiving property of the murdered," he said. "The Palestinians violated the Oslo Accords and created

targeted terror; is this the balance Israel has found?"

"Any country in the world that would propose separating Jews from Muslims in the name of internal peace, by uprooting people from their homes, would be looked upon as distorted," he said. "The only country where Jews are allowed to uproot other Jews is Israel.

The Gaza Regional Council, 43 private citizens, two factory owners in the Gaza Strip Erez industrial zone, 21 West Bank settlers and Knesset member Benny Alon (National Union) have also filed petitions.

Meanwhile, far-right movement "Women in Green" staged a protest outside the courthouse and carried signs saying: "No to the transfer of Jews" and "Supreme Court under PLO jurisdiction."

Court deliberations are expected to last 10 hours. The first round of discussion was held three weeks ago.