Meretz MK: We won’t allow authorization of Evyatar outpost, period

MK Yair Golan of the left-wing Meretz party says his coalition faction “will not allow” the establishment of an authorized settlement in the illegal West Bank outpost of Evyatar, “period.”

“We will not allow Evyatar to be established, period,” he tells Ynet. “We entered this government while swallowing a mammoth-sized pill because it was decided that a yeshiva would be allowed to operate there. To now go for a further step of establishing a community there — we won’t let it happen, and that needs to be clear to anyone who wants this government to continue to exist.”

Deputy Economy and Industry Minister Yair Golan, a legislator with the dovish Meretz party, in his office at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on January 17, 2022. (Tsafrir Abayov/AP)

News broke Wednesday that former attorney general Avichai Mandelblit had approved a compromise deal between the government and settlers to legalize Evyatar in his final hours in office on Tuesday. The move, which is hotly controversial among the ideologically diverse government coalition, still requires the final approval of Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

Labor too has warned that approving the outpost will threaten the stability of the coalition.