Civil Administration approves jurisdiction for new Amona settlement
Following governmental approval, the Civil Administration and COGAT approve jurisdiction over area designated for new Amona community; residents still need GOC Central Command injunction to start building.
The plan was approved by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, following the government's decision.
However, before a temporary settlement can be constructed—a necessary precursor to a permanent community—hopeful residents still need a special injunction from the GOC Central Command.
The permit in question applies to the jurisdiction over land belonging to the state in the Shilo Valley region of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council and would represent significant advancement in terms of a timetable for the establishment of the settlement.
Amona residents have been asking GOC Central Command Roni Numa for the injunction for several weeks, to no avail.
The leader of the Amona settlers, Avichai Buaron, said in light of the development, "Unfortunately, it is still too early to be happy. This decision is but another stage in a long and tedious bureaucratic planning process that could take many years. We repeat: Only a GOC Central Command injunction for the establishment of a temporary residential site can take us out of our desperation.
"The new school year will begin in a few months and we and our children don't know what awaits us in the next year. We have been stuck in a youth hostel for four months in difficult conditions and a murky future.
"We are calling on the prime minister to honor himself and us and allow us to establish a new community as he promised. According to the agreement, the construction of the new settlement was supposed to begin by the end of March. Two months after that deadline, there is no start in sight. We expect the prime minister to immediately have the attorney general issue the proper injunction so that construction can begin immediately. Only then will we know that the prime minister is not violating the agreement with us, and that the new settlement will be built immediately."
The next stage in the process is devising a construction plan for the community itself, including electrical infrastructure, water and the residential buildings. This will be done in cooperation with the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council.
More than 30 families evacuated from Amona are currently living in a youth hostel in Ofra. The families claim they will only leave the hostel for their new community.
In recent weeks, Amona activists have been aggressively lobbying politicians such as Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely to speed the process along.
