Razing of Khan al-Ahmar delayed in hopes of deal
PM: Bedouin village to be destroyed if no compromise reached
The security cabinet on Sunday delayed by a few weeks the demolition of the illegal West Bank herding village of Khan al-Ahmar in the hopes of finding a compromise with its residents and avoiding a forced evacuation.
The two Bayit Yehudi security cabinet ministers, party head Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked, objected to the delay. The majority of the cabinet approved it, however.
“In accordance with the recommendation of professional elements, the security cabinet has granted an extension of several weeks in order to exhaust the negotiations for evacuation by agreement,” the cabinet said in a statement it released after the heated meeting.
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, who initially opposed the delay, voted for it at the cabinet meeting and spoke of his support for it at a Jerusalem event in the evening.
What’s critical here, he said, is not the delay, but the fact that the cabinet made a policy decision that the village must come down.
“The moment the cabinet
approves the evacuation of Khan al-Ahmar, the process is irreversible,” Liberman said.
He explained that Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit had told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it was legally important to make one more attempt to negotiate with the 180 residents of Khan al-Ahmar.
Netanyahu told the government that “Khan al-Ahmar will be evacuated, with or without an agreement. It will not take weeks; it will be much shorter. We will make several vital preparatory moves in the international arena. We will give a last chance for evacuation by agreement – but in any case, Khan al-Ahmar will be evacuated. I am not talking about a cosmetic evacuation but a real evacuation,” he said.
Bennett swore that he would ensure the demolition of the village.
The possibility of a delay was first raised publicly on Saturday night, prior to the cabinet’s affirmation.
The High Court of Justice this summer ruled that there was no legal impediment to the move, but said that it preferred the evacuation to be done by agreement rather than force.
The international community, particularly the European Union and its member states, have called on Israel not to evacuate the village, located outside Jerusalem and near Route 1, just below the Kfar Adumim settlement.
On Wednesday, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Fatou Bensouda warned Israel that the forced relocation of the village was a “war crime.”
The state had wanted to relocate Khan al-Ahmar to a new neighborhood in Abu Dis called Jahalin West, or to an area next to the Mitzpe Yeriho settlement. Khan al-Ahmar residents had rejected both options, because the first site is next to a garbage dump and the second is near a sewage treatment plant.
Khan al-Ahmar residents have fought to remain at their current location, but have repeatedly stated they would be willing to relocate to a nearby site half a kilometer away from their current location.
On Saturday night, residents celebrated upon hearing of Netanyahu’s decision, but on Sunday they were more cautious.
The village’s attorney, Tawfiq Jabareen, said he believes that the state is now willing to look at the compromise position he had put forward this summer, that included an already-prepared master plan to move the village away from the road.
He credited Netanyahu’s apparent change of heart with the ICC prosecutor’s declaration.
“It’s not easy to go against her declaration that it’s a war crime,” Jabareen said.
MK Bezalel Smotrich noted ironically, “Tell me again that we have a right-wing government.” He said he planned to hold a protest event, which he has dubbed a “tour” of Khan al-Ahmar at 5 p.m. on Monday, led by the right-wing NGO Regavim.
Regavim called the delay a “shameful capitulation.”
“For years, Prime Minister Netanyahu has implemented a policy of selective law enforcement against Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria,” the organization said. “Tonight’s decision reeks of cowardice and makes a laughing stock of Israel’s sovereignty and commitment to law and order.”
Knesset members of the Joint List made a solidarity visit to Khan al-Ahmar on Sunday.
“My heart goes out to the village residents who have been anxious for months about their fate and the fate of their children,” said MK Neven Abu Rahmoun. “They have invested all their resources in a legal and public struggle for their right to live in dignity.”