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Last update - 03:02 03/09/2009
Israel hints it may retroactively legalize settlement construction
By Chaim Levinson, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Israel News, Moshe Ya'alon 

The state prosecutor's representative twice hinted that construction in West Bank settlements might be retroactively legalized Wednesday, seemingly representing a major policy turnaround.

The two responses are a departure from the state's usual response that the structures are illegal and are expected to be demolished.

The responses, coming three weeks after Deputy Premier and Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon said that the state prosecutor is not faithfully representing the current government's view on settlements, seems to signal a change in policy.
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In several past cases, including construction in the settlements of Harsha, Hayovel, Neveh Tzuf, Netiv Haavot and Amona, the state told the court the structures were illegal and were due to be destroyed in keeping with the priorities of the defense establishment.

The first of the two cases Wednesday was a petition by Peace Now with a request to issue a demolition order for 12 new structures in the settlement of Kiryat Netafim. The state responded that "while the work is illegal, a detailed master plan had been published in the past with the aim of arranging the planning status of the settlement. This situation requires a deep scrutiny of the issue by the government."

The state also told the court it opposed an interim order against populating the structures, another unusual move.

The second petition, submitted by Yesh Din, sought the demolition of 12 mobile homes in the settlement of Kokhav Yaakov, which was built on Palestinian land.

Unusually, the state's response ignored the issue of the ownership of the land, which the settlers say belongs to the state, but rather said orders to stop work have been issued and that the settlers "have been summoned to a meeting of the oversight subcommittee to discuss the matter of demolition orders. It goes without saying that after these meetings and in keeping with the outcome, we will act according to priorities."

Peace Now secretary general Yariv Oppenheimer wrote Wednesday to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz that political pressure coming from senior ministers was behind the change in the state's responses. "We ask you to instruct the High Court petitions department to ignore any hint of political pressure. Surrender to pressure, as manifest in the two responses of the state, will lead to the crumbling of the rule of law," he wrote.

The head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, Shaul Goldstein, who had protested to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the state prosecution's responses to the High Court, said Wednesday that he was pleased with the state's responses. "The whole issue of construction is a political issue, not a legal issue," Goldstein said.

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      1.   The Wizard of Oz did it! 03:08  |  WHG 03/09/09
      2.   settlement 03:12  |  Ari 03/09/09
      3.   Legal is good 03:16  |  Jake 03/09/09
      4.   Occuppied Territory still makes it Illegal 03:34  |  Id 03/09/09
      5.   Do The Right Thing Freeze `em 03:38  |  Stephen 03/09/09
      6.   Israel does not want peace. 03:52  |  RG 03/09/09
      7.   Israel cannot resist stealing more land... 04:03  |  gg 03/09/09
      8.   Nothing will last forever 04:20  |  Cynic #2 03/09/09
      9.   Retroactive Forgiveness 04:21  |  George Bell 03/09/09
      10.   Does this mean we`re going to stop severing our own feet? 04:40  |  david 03/09/09
      11.   Well deserved boot in the snoot for arrogant double-crosser Obama 04:50  |  Dr. L. Brnd 03/09/09
      12.   jake 3 05:04  |  potobac 03/09/09
      13.   "Greatest impediment to peace" 05:07  |  Ol` Case 03/09/09
      14.   RG-What peace are the Palestinians+Arabs offering Israel? 05:13  |  Sam 03/09/09
      15.   Grand Larceny 05:25  |  Bazmann 03/09/09
      16.   International law 05:30  |  Hirz 03/09/09
      17.   turn right before turning left 05:31  |  peter rouget 03/09/09
      18.   Stephen #5 05:32  |  brad 03/09/09
      19.   Jake Er who was yourpost about? 05:34  |  CJ 03/09/09
      20.   Netanyahu comes to heel 05:43  |  Mark Lincoln 03/09/09
      21.   How to Wipe Palestine from the Map - the "Legal" way 05:54  |  Marc Leb 03/09/09
      22.   Settlements 06:17  |  sfg 03/09/09
      23.   #3, Jake, "Obama`s excessive pressure" 06:32  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 03/09/09
      24.   How it works in a land that isn`t governed by the Rule of Law. 06:35  |  Johnboy 03/09/09
      25.   Israel should resolve for once, put the arabs on arabia and live 07:17  |  Jose Pedro 03/09/09
      26.   re Jake #3 `Legal is good` 07:28  |  Colin Wright 03/09/09
      27.   Sadly the Farcical Behavior Continues - Is This All There Is? 07:44  |  Dan Huck 03/09/09
      28.   I thought that Israel was declared a state in 1948? 07:55  |  lily 03/09/09
      29.   Re Dr.L Brnd #11 `Well deserved boot in the snoot...` 07:55  |  Colin Wright 03/09/09
      30.   #1 Wizard of Oz 07:59  |  lily 03/09/09
      31.   #15 Back atcha`, brad 08:00  |  Johnboy 03/09/09
      32.   #4 Indeed true, Jake 08:10  |  Johnboy 03/09/09
      33.   Ask to a former german-nazi if... 08:26  |  Niva dos Santos 03/09/09
      34.   About time that Israel gets the government that it elected. 08:35  |  Zev 03/09/09
      35.   The claim that Israel has ?stolen? Palestinian land is simply ... 08:44  |  B. Gold 03/09/09
      36.   controversial? 08:44  |  Jochai Rubinstein 03/09/09
      37.   Dishonorable Shenanigans by a Pack of Criminals 08:59  |  Les Lyshkov 03/09/09
      38.   Jews In Palestine - What`s the problem with that???? 09:08  |  B`galil 03/09/09
      39.   The U.S. South also legalized "slavery"...... 09:22  |  Swiss (Dino) 03/09/09
      40.   this is dangerous for Israel 09:34  |  chris 03/09/09
      41.   not even God can change the past, but Israel can? 09:35  |  peter rouget 03/09/09
      42.   Israel in wonderland needs a wake-up call: sanctions 09:38  |  Ivar 03/09/09
      43.   *sigh* 10:15  |  Robert 03/09/09
      44.   c j k 20 10:15  |  potobac 03/09/09
      45.   To #1 Legal was made illegal just by saying it 10:26  |  Roei 03/09/09
      46.   Israel hints it may retroactively legalize settlement constructio 10:32  |  dani.a 03/09/09
      47.   Israel really does want the world to hold its nose! 10:39  |  Rod 03/09/09
      48.   Might as well retroactively legalise - 10:51  |  JW 03/09/09
      49.   those who don`t learn from history 10:56  |  pesach avrum 03/09/09
      50.   Israel should dictate the terms 10:57  |  Bobby 03/09/09
      51.   that why 11:44  |  shimi 03/09/09
      52.   Please help me 13:05  |  Allan Last 03/09/09
      53.   To religious+nationalistic Jews Israel+West Bank are the same 14:08  |  Sam 03/09/09
      54.   potobac 15:02  |  shimi 03/09/09
      55.   #32 B Gold 15:34  |  Abd Mutalip 03/09/09
      56.   #3 Jake 15:38  |  Chris Linthwaite 03/09/09
      57.   What does Israel have to offer the US? 16:01  |  Steve 03/09/09
      58.   Gvmt tells courts what to do??!! 16:26  |  Nic 03/09/09
      59.   Declare a State - and soon 16:31  |  Nahman Umani 03/09/09
      60.   Israel Settlement Policies Barrier to Peace 16:33  |  Vladek 03/09/09
      61.   Land thieve 18:59  |  Janice 03/09/09
      62.   To Brad #18 19:01  |  John R 03/09/09
      63.   All the settlements are illegal. 19:19  |  BDS 03/09/09
      64.   #20 Mark Li 19:33  |  Jake 03/09/09
      65.   bds it is sll jewish ancestral lands 20:07  |  the fixer 03/09/09
      66.   #38 absolute correct 2nd try 20:53  |  Ardi 03/09/09
      67.   setlement construction 22:04  |  joe 03/09/09
      68.   #17 peter rouget 03:10  |  Jim 04/09/09
      69.   #28 lily 03:57  |  Jim 04/09/09
      70.   Hi gg and RG, ever study any history, never "pal" land 04:16  |  jj 04/09/09
      71.   #35 B. Gold 04:31  |  Jim 04/09/09
      72.   #37 Les Lyshkov 04:43  |  Jim 04/09/09
      73.   #42 Ivar 04:56  |  Jim 04/09/09
      74.   #49 pesach avrum 05:10  |  Jim 04/09/09
      75.   All Israeli settlements are legal. They are disputed by enemies. 19:47  |  Chaim 04/09/09
      76.   #75 Chaim does the ol` Israel/Jew switcheroo 08:54  |  Johnboy 05/09/09
      77.   Finally, Sensible Policy 00:17  |  Michael Zubick 06/09/09
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