When the government breaks the law

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Other outposts become famous for their involvement in hate crimes, clashes with police and soldiers, brawls with their Palestinian neighbors or invasion of private lands. Elisha is free of all these offenses. It's a military preparatory program, which was founded 17 years ago near Jericho and moved to the Binyamin region several years ago.

It is precisely because of its innocence that Elisha exposes the disgrace, hypocrisy and lies in the relationship between the State of Israel and its settlers. But why get angry? This story ends with a smile. A bitter smile, but still a smile.

Half a year ago, Elisha was marked by Knesset Member Merav Michaeli of the Labor Party. Michaeli had learned that despite the fact that the outpost was illegal, the Education Ministry and Defense Ministry were funding its activity. She initiated a discussion at the Knesset's Education Committee.

We traveled there on a pleasant winter day. The head of the military preparatory program, Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim, and the CEO, Yoni Conforti, gave Michaeli a warm welcome. They told her that the program receives a bit more than NIS 2,000 (about $580) from the government for each student every month.

Michaeli protested. "This is an 'Israbluff,'" she said. "The state is deceiving itself." The CEO agreed with her. "I don't like the 'Israbluff' either," he said. "I am in favor of building everything legally, with permission and authority."

The chairman of the Knesset's Education Committee is MK Amram Mitzna of Hatnua faction. After the committee discussed the issue, he sent a letter to the defense minister and education minister, inquiring why the government was funding an illegal outpost. On May 12 he received a response from Gilad Altman, the defense minister's assistant on settlement affairs.

The letter is very optimistic. "In the past," the Defense Ministry writes, "two attempts were made to regularize the place, which were not completed."

But there is hope: On May 7 this year, the advancement of planning procedures for regularization was approved. "In a discussion I held, all the professional sources defined a timetable in the green route. In other words, a process which will take about six months, as long as there are no disruptions or objections. In case of any delays, the procedure will take about a year."

There is not a single word in the letter about the fact that the government is funding a violation of the law. The defense minister's assistant is talking to Mitzna as if Mitzna were the head of the Yesha Council, as if his only concern is that the way to make the illegal outpost legal has yet to be found.

Mitzna's response is not much better. On the one hand, he wrote on May 20, "this reality is intolerable." On the other hand, "the importance of the military preparatory programs in general and the activity of the Elisha program in particular is well known and valued."

And then comes the conclusion: "I have noted the Defense Ministry's commitment to resolve the issue by April 2015. If the issue of the place's legality is not resolved, government ministries will avoid continuing the funding."

I asked Mitzna why he gave up. His reply was sincere: "My committee has no authority on this matter. I based my response on the letter I received from the defense ministry's assistant."

Government doesn't pledges allegiance

I promised a bitter smile at the end of the story. Here it is: MK Eitan Cabel of the Labor Party has been working on a bill which aims to deal with cases like the Elisha outpost. Another 13 lawmakers from the center and left have signed his proposal so far, including Michaeli and Mitzna. The title of the bill is: "Protection of public funds (prohibition of funding and providing services to unauthorized outposts)."

Every government member in Israel pledges allegiance in his name, in the name of his father and in the name of his mother, to the state and its laws. The ministers pledge, but the government doesn't pledge. Only in Israel there is a need to enact a law banning the government from funding illegal activity. We are the chosen people.

The bill explains slowly, in dictation speed, why when the government and bodies like municipalities, regional councils and governmental companies aid illegal activity, it is against the rule of law, negatively affects the state's foreign relations and reduces its budget. The criminals face a two-year prison term and a fine.

This bill has no chance of gaining a majority of course. Not here. In the current reality, anyone demanding that the government respect its own laws will be considered a foreign agent, an enemy of Israel, a traitor.