In Knesset, residents of illegal outpost lament court-ordered demolition of woodshop

Residents of the Netiv Ha’avot outpost handed out pieces of the woodshop that was demolished last month to coalition lawmakers during their respective Knesset faction meetings.

The High Court ruled that the woodshop, a memorial for fallen IDF soldiers, and 15 homes were illegally built on private Palestinian land, sanctioning their demolition. While the homes in the extended neighborhood of the Elazar settlement are slated to be razed on March 8, 2017, the High Court ruled that the two non-residential structures needed to be razed earlier. In July, the residents demolished the war memorial and inaugurated a replacement monument in a less problematic location in the settlement. However, the woodshop remained, leading Israeli security forces to demolish the shack on November 29.

Along with the pieces of the carpentry that were handed out to lawmakers, are letters from the Netiv Ha’avot residents reminding the Knesset members “that they have the power to prevent the further demolition of their neighborhood.”

“While the first building in our neighborhood was indeed demolished because of them (MKs) and because of the prime minister, it is still possible to legalize the neighborhood,” the residents write in a statement.

“The time has come for the prime minister to first deal with his problems at home and find solutions to them before dealing with Israel’s problems in the world,” they add.

— Jacob Magid