Israel Plans to Legalize 13 Contentious West Bank Outposts

The government has announced that it plans to legalize 13 of the 18 settlement outposts against which petitions to the High Court of Justice have been filed.

• After Ulpana and Migron, the Next West Bank Outposts on the Agenda
• Israel's AG at Odds With Defense Minister's Demand to Legalize West Bank Outpost
• Israel Readies for Outpost Evacuation

Because the 13 outposts are not built on privately-owned Palestinian land, the legalization process could presumably make the petitions against them moot.

The remaining five outposts cannot be legalized, because they are located on privately-owned Palestinian land, and so are slated for evacuation.

The first to go will be Beit El's Ulpana neighborhood, which the court has ordered dismantled by July 1. Next in line is Migron, an outpost near Ramallah, which must be dismantled by August 1.

Givat Assaf, an outpost close to Migron that houses 25 families, will likely be evacuated at some point this summer, though it's unclear when.

The government promised the court that Givat Assaf would be evacuated at about the same time as Ulpana, meaning by July 1. But unlike in the case of Ulpana and Migron, the court has not yet issued a final ruling on the petition against this outpost, though one is expected soon.

After that will be Amona, an outpost of 50 families located near Ofra. The government has promised to dismantle this outpost by the end of the year.

Mitzpeh Kramim is also slated for evacuation, but the government has not announced when that is slated to occur. Nor has it announced a timetable for the legalization of the other 13 outposts.