The Israeli government has halted its plan to evict the illegal Bedouin settlement of Khan Al-Ahmar, due to "negotiations for an agreement with the residents to find an alternative place" as stated in a petition to the Supreme Court. In fact, such contacts have been going on for years, but have repeatedly failed. In its answer to the Supreme Court, the government will also return to the argument it used in the past, according to which at this time the evacuation of the settlement has profound political and security implications.
Back in February, the Netanyahu-led right-wing government after years of calling for the eviction of Khan Al-Ahmar asked for the ninth time to postpone its answer for the final stamp of approval on evicting the residents. The Supreme Court accepted the request but warned that if no answer is received the next time, it will consider accepting the petition and order the eviction of the illegal Bedouin outpost regardless. The government then asked to postpone its answer for four months, but the Supreme Court decided that it would only allow about two months to submit the final answer.
In the ruling, justices Noam Solberg, Ofer Grosskopf, and Alex Stein determined that a hearing on the petition, after the state's answer, would take place on May 1. This is a means of pressure and criticism by the court on the state.
Judge Solberg criticized the state in the ruling, stating that it (the government) says one thing to the court, and does another. "The petition is pending - it's been almost four whole years. We have repeatedly expressed our displeasure with the 'foot-dragging' in a long series of decisions; there is no need to expand too much. Suffice it to say, that our opinion is not comfortable at all with the conduct of the state's respondents, which even contradicts itself," wrote the judge.
Khan al-Ahmar is not an ancient village but more like an illegally-built traveller camp. The Israeli state has been trying to move it for over 10 years and it has gone to the courts, with many delays. The Israeli state has prepared a site for the relocation of the encampment 9ā¦
ā Mark Humphrys (@markhumphrys) April 15, 2023
Solberg added: "On the one hand, it has been claimed, repeatedly, including in the request for an extension before us, that 'the political echelon remains steadfast in its position that the rule of law requires the execution of the demolition orders in the Khan Al Ahmar compound'; and on the other hand, the actions of the respondents so far apparently show precisely on the contrary - because they are comfortable with the existing situation: every few months a request for an extension will be submitted, the petitioner will oppose it, the court will grant it, even if with gnashing of teeth, and the world, as usual, 'decides not to decide'. This course of action, perhaps possible in some cases, outside the walls of the court, but it is not acceptable to us; certainly not for such a long time, when a petition is pending in the background, awaiting clarification and an answer, for sure, after we have issued a conditional order."
Before the elections, senior government officials such as Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich promised to evacuate the illegal settlement and even attacked the previous government for postponing the evacuation. "What matters is not what the Gentiles will say, but what the Jews will do," Smotrich attacked Bennett at the time who claimed that international pressure was preventing him from evicting the illegal settlement.
Report: Netanyahu Government Asking High Court to Forget About Khan al-Ahmar - @JewishPress - https://t.co/QQdo3eFlZQ pic.twitter.com/IZxZTBCcNc
ā JewishPress.com (@JewishPress) April 23, 2023
Knesset Member Almog from Otzma Yehudit, who sits in the current coalition, said that the reason why Khan Al-Ahmar will not be evicted is that "the Americans and Europeans have a different agenda."
