Weinstein. Upholding rule of law
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Beit Yonatan. To be evacuated and sealed
Photo: Noam Moscowitz
AG: Seal Jewish home in east Jerusalem
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein orders municipality to carry out court order to evacuate, seal Jewish building in east Jerusalem suburb of Silwan, in keeping with rule of law principle
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein ordered Jerusalem Town Hall and police to carry out the court's order to evacuate and seal Beit Yonatan in east Jerusalem's Silwan suburb. He noted it should be carried out as soon as possible, in coordination with law enforcement agencies and the police.
The attorney general also requested that other buildings in the area be checked for legal infringements.
"This is important for sake of the appearance of justice and in light of claims that the law is being enforced selectively," he said.
Anti-Freeze Campaign
Yair Altman
(Video) West Bank Jews to strike against renewing settlement construction freeze; animated clip released showing weak PM 'eaten' by US President 'Hussein' Obama
A letter sent to Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, the municipality's legal advisor and Jerusalem police commander noted, "After carefully considering the issue, the attorney general remains convinced that the principle of the rule of law demands the application of the evacuation and seal order against Beit Yonatan in Silwan, as soon as possible. As the court ruled as it did, there is no room for further consideration but to fulfill the order without deviating from the instructions."
Therefore, the attorney general requested that the police assist in any way necessary for the application of the order, noting that the municipality must bear its share regarding logistics.
Weinstein also noted that the order requires only that the building be sealed – a step that can be reversed. When a program is approved which includes the building, it can be reopened for residency, he said.
He said that just as the principle of the rule of law demands that the order be carried out, it also demands that steps are taken against other legal infringements in construction, according to egalitarian criteria. In this, Weinstein was responding to right-wing activists who claimed the State fails to enforce the law against other illegal buildings in the area inhabited by Palestinians.
Weinstein said this issue should be investigated, noting that in addition to the principle of the rule of law, it was important for the sake of the appearance of justice and to counter claims of selective enforcement of the law.
Beit Yonatan is a seven-floor building constructed without a permit in 2004 in the Silwan suburb, and is inhabited by Jewish settlers linked to the Ateret Cohanim movement. At the beginning of the year, Barkat tried to promote a plan that would retrospectively have approved some illegal construction of both Jewish and Arab buildings, but later he said he would carry out the court's evacuation orders.
- Follow Ynetnews on Facebook
