Court halts fence building near Arab village

The order was issued following a petition filed by the Azaria Village Council, in which residents claimed that the fence will encircle the Arab village from three sides and will thus imprison its residents and prevent the village from developing in the future.

Supreme Court President Aharon Barak and Justices Edna Arbel and Salim Jubran ruled that the State will be allowed to continue the construction of the fence on its northern and eastern parts. However, in the central part, which infiltrates the village, the works will be halted until a final ruling is given.

The eastern part of the fence passes near the access road to Maale Adumim, its northern part is parallel to Road 1, while its central part infiltrates the village and encircles the Ras Azaria hill.

In the petition, the village council asked the court to issue an interim order under the claim that the construction works that will be conducted until a final ruling is given will seriously damage the village's lands.

State: Essential security need

The State claimed that the building of the fence in the area was an essential security need and that the works being conducted in the meantime will not cause irreversible damage because the main part of the route passes through State lands.

Since the beginning of the construction works on the fence, the High Court has been repeatedly asked to rule on appeals filed by Palestinians who claimed that they were harmed by the building of the fence, as well as on appeals filed by Jews who claimed that the fence was endangering their security or hurting nature.

In September, the High Court ordered the State to reroute the security fence near the settlement of Alfei Menashe, thus accepting an appeal filed by residence of five Palestinian villages in the area. The court instructed the State to dismantle the fence already built in the area.