Beinish. 'Road paved based on what?'
Photo: George Ginsburg
Hayut. 'State doesn't see what's going on'
High Court slams State over West Bank road
Judges criticize State for paving road connecting settlement, illegal outpost built on private land. 'This is a serious violation of an injunction,' says Supreme Court President Beinish
Supreme Court President Dorit Beinish on Wednesday slammed the State for violating an injunction in the expansion of a road connecting the West Bank settlement of Eli to the Hayovel outpost.
Demolition orders issued against the road several years ago have yet to be enforced, and the court later issued an injunction ruling that the road must not be expanded, but it continued to be paved.
Beinish spoke during a High Court discussion of a petition against the road's expansion filed by the Yesh Din human rights organization.
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Yesh Din representative, Attorney Shlomi Zacharia, said during the discussion that the State had violated an injunction by allowing the road to be paved.
Beinish said to the State's representative, "If the outpost is illegal and if the lands are private, how can the road be paved there? Based on what? Continuing to pave it after an injunction has been issued is a serious thing."
Attorney Hila Gorni of the State Prosecutor's Office said she did not know who was paving the road. Beinish replied, "It's your business, it's a road."
Justice Esther Hayut asked the State representative, "What are you doing about the violated injunction?" She tried to propose a compromise, according to which the new road would be blocked and an alternative road in the area would be used instead.
However, after the State representative found out that the road was destroyed, Hayut told her, "Things are happening before your eyes. You have improved means of observation and you can't see what's going on there."
The court also discussed the delay in the demolition of homes in Hayovel outpost, after Major Eliraz Peretz, who lived there, was killed in an exchange of fire in Gaza. Regarding the outpost, Beinish told the State representative, "all we approved was a four-month extension to implement the demolition orders."
