Lador to Barkat: Evacuate Beit Yonatan Immediately

Prosecutor orders Jerusalem mayor to implement court-ordered evacuation of East Jerusalem home.

State Prosecutor Moshe Lador on Sunday instructed Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat to immediately implement the court-ordered evacuation of an illegally built home erected by nationalist Jews in a predominantly Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem, Israel Radio reported.

Shas chairman Eli Yishai last week said he plans to raise the matter of legalizing the structure, known as "Beit Yonatan," during the next meeting of the Interior Ministry's district planning commission in Jerusalem.

Lador sent a letter to Barkat, in which he warned him against undertaking a legalization process, and urged the mayor to enforce future evacuation orders for illegal structures.

Beit Yonatan, a seven-story residential structure that houses eight Jewish families, was built illegally in the heart of the predominantly Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan by the nationalist association Ateret Cohanim. The courts issued an evacuation order for the building last July.

Barkat initially refused to enforce the evacuation order, though he later yielded after considerable public pressure from the attorney general and state prosecutor.

"Just as Nir Barkat is not above the law, Eli Yishai is also not above the law," said a source familiar with the issue. "The interior minister cannot intervene in a court ruling and he will need to learn this lesson just like Barkat did."

Even if the structure is legalized, the building's residents would need to undergo a lengthy process in order to obtain the necessary permits from the Jerusalem municipality. These permits are a prerequisite for nullifying a court order.

The Jerusalem District Court has already turned down the residents' appeal to strike down the evacuation order so that they can win approval for a new building plan.

In a letter to State Prosecutor Moshe Lador, Barkat pledged last week to enforce the court order to evacuate the structure, though he added that he was doing so under protest.

Barkat also wrote that the municipality would tear down some 200 Palestinian homes slated for demolition in East Jerusalem.