Justice Ministry okays hooking up illegal outposts to power grid

The Justice Ministry gives the green light on Tuesday for connecting some illegal West Bank outposts to electricity, a controversial step that as of last week was one of Yamina MK Nir Orbach’s demands for remaining in the imperiled coalition.

The matter will move to the Defense Ministry for authorization and to determine the criteria for homes to be included, according to an opinion issued by Deputy Attorney General for Civil Affairs Carmit Yulis.

Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar welcomes the opinion from Yulis, which, he says, “in principle allows connection to electricity for towns in the young settlement movement that are eligible for regularization.”

A source close to Sa’ar confirms that the opinion only applies to outposts built upon Israeli state land, not Palestinian private land.

The source says a similar approval process to connect Palestinian homes to the grid in West Bank Area C is planned for the future, but not as part of the current effort.