Government tells court it seeks delay in removing illegal outpost

The State Attorney’s Office asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to postpone the evacuation of an unsanctioned West Bank settlement outpost until late 2015.

The request came even though the court had ordered that the Migron outpost be dismantled by March 31, saying it was built on private Palestinian property. The state’s submission reflected an agreement worked out with Migron residents in recent weeks.

“This request means the High Court would authorize the continued theft of private land for three years. I can’t believe that a court, especially the Supreme Court, would involve himself in such an immoral and illegal act,” attorney Michael Sefarad, the Palestinian property owners’ counsel, told Army Radio.

By asking for a delay of three and a half years, Israel’s hawkish government is trying to avoid a potentially violent showdown with settlers and their supporters.

The government had earlier reached a tentative deal with the settlers, allowing them to stay in Migron until new homes for them are built on a nearby hilltop in November 2015.

Critics of the Migron deal say it rewards settlers who broke Israeli law by squatting on private land.

“The agreement is an evasion of enacting a Supreme Court order,” Peace Now CEO Yariv Oppenheimer said. “In practice, the outpost won’t be evacuated and another settlement will be established alongside it.”