High Court Orders Destruction of Last Migron Buildings
High Court gives state 45 days to evacuate last seven buildings of Samaria town, despite lack of Arab litigant claiming land.
High Court judges on Tuesday ordered the state within 45 days to evacuate the last seven buildings left of the evacuated town of Migron, located in the Binyamin region of Samaria – despite the lack of land claims against the town.
Migron residents were expelled in September 2012, after the High Court accepted the suit by radical leftist group Peace Now and denied the claims of the Jewish residents, forcing them to move to a facility in Givat Hayekev.
Much of the town was destroyed after Arab residents of the area claimed ownership of the land, this despite the fact that the Arab claimants withdrew their lawsuit when requested to present proof of their claims, and the Attorney General found that the claims could not be substantiated.
Nevertheless, Peace Now stepped in and pushed the case on, eventually getting the High Court to rule that Jews can not live on and develop any land not currently registered as state land.
In the court decision, the judges Miriam Naor, Tzvi Zilbertal and Ori Shoham rejected the claim of the company Al Watan to having purchased “plot 10” of the town where the seven buildings are located. The company is going through civilian proceedings to prove ownership and save the structures.
“The departure point for our case is the ruling in the central proceedings, in which it was ruled that the state has to evacuate the Migron outpost,” said Naor. “As is known, the court has the inherent authority to extend the periods set in the ruling. But the use of this authority is only to be done in extraordinary cases.”
The judge noted the ruling does not create irreversible facts on the ground.
“My conclusion is that the evacuation of the buildings should be order while considering that we are dealing with several portable buildings, that are standing empty from residents,” said Naor. “If Al Watan wins in the suit it is holding in the district court, it can establish the mobile structures again in accordance with planning ordinances and receiving appropriate licenses. But there is no justification for delaying the evacuations until a ruling in the civilian lawsuit.”
The judges ordered the company to pay legal expenses totaling 30,000 shekels (over $7,500) to the Arab claimant who originally petitioned to evacuate Migron claiming the land belonged to him.
However, the judges ruled that cellular antennas placed on the site are not to be removed for another 60 days to allow the cellular companies to file suits on the matter.
