An 18-year struggle against the expansion of the Gush Etzion Israeli settlement of Efrat towards the Palestinian village of Al-Eitam came to an end yesterday with the typically moderate Israeli Supreme Court's rejection of a petition from Palestinian residents of the area and the "Peace Now" movement.
The Al-Eitam area has been included in the territory of the Efrat local council since it was established in the early 1980s, but over the years it has undergone minor changes, following the Oslo Accords and following claims by Palestinians from the area that were partially accepted and according to which, parts of the area are not Israel state lands. All the rest of the area was declared as state land and assigned to the Efrat local council for its expansion.
High Court Rejects Peace Now Petition to Give Efrat Land to Arabs - @JewishPress - https://t.co/BnVhfuXoPp pic.twitter.com/GyBHEu4Tkg
ā JewishPress.com (@JewishPress) November 22, 2022
The Palestinians tried to attack using the just Israeli court system, but following their conduct before the authorities and before the High Court, the petition was rejected. When it became clear nobody was buying the narrative that the ground mentioned is Palestinian, they created a new one.
According to their latest court case, even if it is state land, and not land belonging to the Palestinians, these state lands should be allocated to a Palestinian settlement and not to an Israeli settlement.
According to Peace Now, as explained in a statement on behalf of the movement published, "If the plan is indeed implemented, a buffer will be created between Bethlehem and the 'South Bank' which will prevent territorial continuity for a future Palestinian state, a necessary condition for reaching peace.ā
High Court to rule on whether to give land to Palestinians or Efrathttps://t.co/kWdKMHec87
ā End of the Age (Endtime) (@EndtimeInc) November 15, 2022
In other words, Peace Now is attempting to covertly help the Palestinian leadership by ensuring they have continuous territories. When at the hearing it became clear to the representatives of Peace Now that the judges are only willing to discuss the allocation of the 50 dunams on the edge of Al-Eitam to the Palestinian petitioners, their attempts became pointless. The petitioners gave up on continuing the process and the judges had no choice but to reject the petition.
The city of Efrat is a large Israeli community in the area of Gush Etzion, between the Jerusalem mountains to the north and Hebron to the south. Like other large towns in areas over the imaginary 'green line' such as Ariel, Efrat is considered Israeli territory under the Oslo accords that would not be handed over to the Palestinians under any type of agreement.
