As evacuation looms, ministers convene to hash out Ulpana solution

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a small group of ministers Friday to discuss a solution to the looming evacuation of the Givat Ulpana outpost in the West Bank, after the High Court ordered earlier this week that five buildings there be torn down by July 1.

Netanyahu is reportedly considering trying to push through legislation that could bypass the High Court, which ruled that the homes were built on private Palestinian land.

The meeting ended a little after noon with no decision, according to Israel Radio. The Ministers plan to meet again on the issue in the near future.

At stake are five buildings, each with six apartments, in the West Bank settlement of Beit El, in the Samarian hills north of Ramallah. Complying with the court order could mean massive unrest as settler activists attempt to derail the evacuation, a situation the cabinet hopes to avoid.

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In the meeting are Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Vice Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz, Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman, Minister Benny Begin and Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya’alon, as well as representatives of the state prosecutor, attorney general and Civil Administration.

This was among the first high-level assemblies for Mofaz, who brought the Kadima party into the coalition earlier this week in a surprise move that rocked Israel’s political scene.

Netanyahu, according to some reports, favors passage of a law that would allow homes to be retroactively approved as legally built, even if they were not given permits before construction, which may help stave off the court order.

The Defense Ministry could also seize the land “for security purposes,” Maariv reported, though that move is unlikely as the land holds no special security value and Barak has gone on record saying he would like to see the homes torn down and settlers moved into legal homes within Beit El.

Either move is likely to bring harsh local and international criticism.

Speaking to Israel Radio, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said Friday morning that any decision the government makes must take “justice” into account, as the settlers whose homes are at stake are law-abiding and were sent to the outpost with the state’s blessings.

He compared the settlers situation with that of Bedouin who live in unauthorized towns in the Negev desert, whose homes are retroactively made legal.

Kadima MK Nachman Shai told the station he favors moving the settlers and compensating them, though outpost resident say they will not accept any deal that moves them out of their homes.

Also speaking on Israel Radio, MK Zehava Gal-On, head of the left-wing Meretz party, said any High Court bypass law would undermine the rule of law and send a message that settlers are more important to the government than average citizens.

Later Friday, Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom spoke with the head of the Beit El Regional Council, Moshe Rosenboim, and said regulatory legislation should be passed to resolve the issue of the homes in Givat Ulpana.

He said the Likud party believes in and promotes settlements in the West Bank, and that rather than waging a “rescue battle over each hill [outpost],” a regulatory law should be passed.