Last update - 00:00 15/08/2007
High Court: Heftsiba clients can't enter W. Bank settlement homes
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
The High Court of Justice ruled on Wednesday that those who purchased homes from the collapsing construction company Heftsiba situated in the disputed Matityahu East neighborhood of the West Bank settlement of Modi'in Ilit, would not be allowed to enter these houses until the court's final ruling on the settlement of the area.
Clients who bought homes from Heftsiba all across the country have been squatting in the unfinished buildings in order to establish ownership and prevent the loss of their investment due to the company's imminent collapse. The squatters in Modi'in Ilit are subject to an additional aspect of the housing situation, as their homes were built on disputed West Bank land which it has not yet been decided whether Jews would be allowed to settle.
The High Court is still deliberating petitions filed some 18 months ago by activist group Peace Now and the Bil'in council, which seek to bar Jews from settling the area. The court issued an injunction following the submission of these petitions, prohibiting the area from being populated.
The would-be tenants of the Heftsiba houses in Modi'in Ilit also recently petitioned the High Court asking to be allowed to protect their investment, but the court ruled that the former injunction stands, and they are prohibited from entering the homes in Matityahu East.
The High Court justices will also rule in the coming days on whether the state is obligated to forcibly evacuate the squatters already inhabiting Heftsiba buildings in Matityahu East. They have announced that the final verdict will be handed down "at a foreseeable time."
The Jerusalem District Court has ruled that the already occupied houses in the settlement would not be evacuated. However, this ruling was a temporary injunction that pertained to all the settlers, not only squatters in Heftsiba homes. When it was argued that the Jerusalem court injunction conflicts with High Court injunction, Jerusalem District Court judge David Cheshin ruled that he was bound by the High Court and therefore his ruling did not apply to the Matityahu East squatters.
The Heftsiba clients petitioned the High Court detailing the financial hardships stemming from the delay in the expected entry into the homes they had purchased. They said they had become innocent victims in the legal battle between Peace Now and the Bil'in Council and the construction companies and the housing authorities. They asked to be permitted to enter the homes they had purchased, even though they had been built on disputed land.