Amona
Photo: Tomerico
Bayit Yehudi: State to request delay on Amona decision from Supreme Court
Bayit Yehudi officials claim that Netanyahu has agreed to request from the Supreme Court a 6-month postponement of the evacuation of Amona, which is scheduled to commence in December; PM’s office yet to confirm veracity of statements.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to submit a request to the Israeli Supreme Court to postpone the decision to evacuate Amona in the West Bank
by half a year to enable the construction of a legal solution, according to Bayit Yehudi officials.
The reported decision came following a meeting on Thursday between Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Netanyahu and Bayit Yehudi officials but has yet to be confirmed the Prime Minister’s Office.
The evacuation, scheduled to commence in December, has been at the center of much controversy over recent weeks and has risked giving rise to a political showdown within the fragile coalition.
Amona (Photo: Tomerico)
Bayit Yehudi party members stated shortly after the meeting that a compromise would have to be struck which enabled both a swift solution to Amona and the placement of mechanisms which would enable a strategic solution to ensure that future evacuation orders could be successfully staved off.
Officials in Bayit Yehudi clarified that in the absence of any other choice, they would have to support legislation that would legalize the outpost, proposed by MK Shuli Mualem-Rafaeli and backed by Likud MKs.
While the govrnment did not confirm the conclusion of the meeting, a diplomatic official said that the prime minister, defense minister and the attorney general were shocked to hear of a briefing provided by Bayit Yehudi Chair Naftali Bennett in which he claimed that the decision to submit the request to the Supreme Court was the fruit of pressure exerted by his party.
“In practice, the decision was already taken days ago during discussions between the prime minister, defense minister, the justice minister and the attorney general,” said one official. “Bennett is once again using the known technique of taking credit for decisions already taken. The request to delay is born out of a desire to find a solution without violence. All the unnecessary talk about the issue of Amona only damages the process.”
The political establishment heaped criticism on the government over its decision, citing a flourishing culture of indecision. “As usual, the government has decided not to decide on the issue of Amona and has returned the ball to the Supreme Court. Afterward they will complain about the inability to govern and attack the justice system,” said Hatnuah Leader Tzipi Livni.
