Amona residents to accept deal to set up new settlement elsewhere

After the High Court rejected a government plan to give Amona residents an adjacent plot of land, residents say they have no choice but to accept a separate offer for a new settlement elsewhere.

“In the absence any other option, the residents will accept the offer to establish a new settlement,” Amona spokesman Ofer Inbar tells The Times of Israel.

Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Chief of Staff Yoav Horowitz said the Palestinians’ claim on the land nullified the compromise deal. Instead, he said the Amona residents were offered new options: build a new settlement in the area, or relocate the entire community to Ofra.

Amona residents initially rejected the government’s counter-offer, saying that remaining on the contested hilltop was the cornerstone of the entire agreement.