Attempt to evacuate Amona
Settlers leave illegal Amona outpost
Pinchas Wallersten, head of Binyamin Regional Council, says his people sealed permanent houses in outpost, instructed inhabitants to leave, in bid to prevent clashes, reach compromise with State; in addition, settlers expected to file High Court petition against evacuation
Yesha Council officials sealed the permanent houses in the illegal West Bank outpost of Amona Tuesday night and left the site in a bid to reach a compromise with the defense establishment over the evacuation of the permanent constructions in the outpost.
Simultaneously, the settlers plan on filing a petition twith the High Court of Justice against the evacuation.
IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Dan Halutz declared at the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the evacuation will take place next week. Nine families had entered the permanent structures and resided there for a number of days, before leaving the site.
Following a petition submitted by the Peace Now movement to the High Court and the State's declaration that it would evacuate the permanent houses, the settlers decided to return to the houses in order to prevent the evacuation.
Sources at the Yesha Council claimed that they had recently attempted to reach an understanding with security forces in order to prevent the evacuation.
Following the chief of staff's declaration, Binyamin Regional Council Head Pinchas Wallerstein sent a letter to the defense minister and the head of the Civil Administration and charged that as part of the attempt to reach a compromise and to prevent clashes, his people had sealed the houses and their inhabitants left the outpost.
'Attempt to prevent unnecessary clashes'
The Yesha Council decided to seal the houses without notifying the Civil Administration or the army, but explained that if the move and the High Court petition would not help, it would prove that the attempt to reach a compromise was initiated by the settlers, while the policy makers are driven by political considerations.
Wallerstein also asked the defense establishment to wait another two or three months in order to allow the settlers to secure the required permits to reside in the area. Thus, he said, "unnecessary clashes and another rift among the Jewish people" would be prevented.
Wallerstein told Ynet that "we hope this will help and that the defense establishment will allow us to obtain the appropriate permits, which are just being delayed. But if this will not help, we shall resist the evacuation and call on our people to come and prevent the security forces from evacuating the permanent structures and demolishing them."
