Amona residents slam Netanyahu, Bennett for surrendering to Kahlon
Settlers reject solution that would see them moved to temporary lodgings until a permanent solution can be found: 'It's like a ghetto'; and while the revised Regulation Bill passed preliminary reading, AG still opposes it.
Amona residents on Monday rejected out of hand the compromise reached in the coalition that allowed a revisd version of the Regulation Bill to pass a preliminary reading in the Knesset.
The Regulation Bill would retroactively legalize Jewish outposts in the West Bank built with government involvement. Clause 7 of the legislation proposal, which specifically refers to Amona, was removed from the new version to allow it to pass.
The legislation will now be advanced in an expedited process and the Kneset is expected to vote on the first reading on Wednesday.
"We can now say with certainty that had Naftali Bennett and Benjamin Netanyahu insisted and demanded the Kulanu party, as a member of coalition, to respect the basic requirement of honoring coalition discipline, then Amona could have stayed on the map and 200 children and their parents would not have to be uprooted from their homes," the residents said in a letter.
"The fact this demand was not made by the prime minister and education minister is frustrating and can ruin lives. Unfortunately, Bennett and Netanyahu—who were willing to pass the Regulation Bill and face international threats—folded in the face of a petty political threat from the Kulanu party, which was an entirely empty threat. We still don't understand why."
'Amona North is a ghetto'
After the High Court of Justice rejected the government's request for an extension on Amona's impending evacuation, a solution was formulated that would see them moved to temporary lodgings for eight months on three plots of land belonging to absentee owners, until a more permanent solution could be found.
"We completely reject the bogus solution of using 'absentee owners' lands,'" they wrote. "This plan is detached from reality and does not take into consideration the size of the town, its population, its public and education institutions, and its community and agricultural character. This is a very limited area—a ghetto."
"Amona North," the temporary area set to house the evacuated residents, is 13 dunams in size, spread over three unconnected plots of land. The 40 families will have to crowd into only 31 structures.
On Monday, however, it transpired that the temporary solution might face other obstacles. Palestinians filed reservations concerning two of the three plots, claiming the land owners were not absentees at all.
The Amona residents called on the people of Israel to join them in protesting the evacuation. Dozens of teenagers—yeshiva students from all across the country—have already arrived in Amona and are waiting for the impending evacuation on December 25.
"We call on you, all lovers of the Land of Israel who have been by our side so far, to join us and be here with us until the legislation is amended or, heaven forbid, on the day of the evacuation to mount a widescale popular protest against the intention to demolish a Jewish town and carry out a transfer of our families," they wrote.
They also noted that Netanyahu and Bennett would bear the responsibility for the painful sights of evacuation.
During Monday's Likud party meeting, Netanyahu offered an apology for having to pass the revised version of the Regulation Bill, which doesn't include Amona.
"I want to apologize to those who had their hopes up," he said. "We're working very hard to find a solution for Amona, and I believe everyone sitting here understands the distress the residents are in. The solution we're examining and planning to propose will allow the residents to remain on the mountain and stay as a community. It's true, they would have to move, but they could stay in the area and that's a very important thing."
Netanyahu added that "there isn't just one Amona, there are many," referring to the fact the Regulation Bill might not stop Amona's evacuation, but could legalize dozens of other outposts.
Bennett celebrated the fact the revised Regulation Bill passed the preliminary reading, saying "The national camp is back in power. This is a historic day: Today the Knesset went from a path that would lead to the formation of a Palestinian state to the path of establishing sovereignty in Judea and Samaria."
AG still opposes Regulation Bill
But despite having passed this initial hurdle, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit still objects to the Regulation Bill.
According to Mandelblit, the revised version of the legislation is still unconstitutional and contradicts both Israeli and international law.
The Regulation Bill, the attorney general said, still includes clauses that bypass accepted procedures in the regulating of lands in the West Bank and in the legalization of outposts built on privately-owned land, stating he would therefore not be able to defend it at the High Court of Justice.
Based on the Regulation Bill, the government could expropriate the right to use the land. Since the expropriation refers to the right to use the land rather than the land's ownership, Palestinians who prove ownership will be entitled to financial compensation—but the outpost would not be evacuated.
Last week, Mandelblit conditioned the approval of the temporary solution for Amona on the Regulation Bill not passing in the Knesset. If the bill does not get passed into law, the attorney general will petition the High Court of Justice on behalf of the state, asking once again for a 30-day postponement of Amona's evacuation.
But officials in the Bayit Yehudi party said they were aware of Mandelblit's objection to the revised edition, and noted they never thought he would support it.
"The problem was with Kahlon and Benny Begin, and not with the attorney general," one official explained.
Bennett himself was not worried, "he says he won't defend the legislation at the High Court? Fine, we'll bring someone else who will."
Elisha Ben Kimon, Moran Azulay, Tova Tzimuki and Yuval Karni contributed to this report.
