High Court rejects state´s request to delay evacuation of West Bank outpost until 2015; Peace Now hails decision as victory, right-wing parliamentarians plan to push legislation that would nullify ruling. The High Court of Justice on Sunday ordered the IDF to evacuate the West Bank Migron outpost by August 1, rejecting a bid by the state to delay such a move until November 30, 2015.

The court ruling is an obligation, not a choice, Supreme Court President Asher Dan Grunis said.

"This is a necessary component of the rule of law to which all are subject, as part of Israel´s values as a Jewish and democratic state," Grunis added.

Migron residents may harbor justified resentment against the state and its authorities, Grunis said.

However, the Supreme Court President said that the state had made it clear all along that settlements cannot be built on private Palestinian land - something that Begin himself had clarified in Thursday´s hearing, the justices added.

"As the state has made clear, no body is authorized to permit the establishment of a settlement on private land," they said.

In Sunday´s court ruling, the justices cited former Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch´s words at the end of the court´s August 2011 ruling.

“We can only wish that the residents of the outpost will come to their senses and agree to accept their duty not to appear as lawbreakers, and that they will settle any other site that the state deems fit to allow them,” Beinisch had written.

Migron spokesman Itai Chemo said the ruling begins with the false claim that the land on which their homes sit is privately owned by Palestinians and ends with the demand that those who seek peace must be evacuated.

"We are confident that the government´s representative Minister [without Portfolio Benny] Begin [Likud] will find a suitable solution to the situation in which the state sends its loyal citizens to settle [the land] and the court forces their eviction," he said.

Right-wing parliamentarians immediately attacked the decision, while Peace Now, which had originally petitioned the court against the outpost in 2006, hailed it as a victory.

“The Supreme Court has proved that everyone is equal in front of the law and everyone should obey the court,” said Peace Now Executive Director Yariv Oppenheimer.

“We expect the people of Migron to respect the decision and to evacuate the outpost in a peaceful manner,” said Oppenheimer.

Civil rights group Yesh also welcomed the court´s decision. "We hope the government will learn its lesson and not evade its duty to protect the rights of Palestinian landowners, who have not been able to access their land for over a decade," said Yesh Din director Haim Erlich.

However, civil rights group the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel slammed the court.

"The High Court justices could have made a decision to avoid conflict in Israeli society," said Forum director attorney Nachi Eyal. "Clearly the court thinks human rights are only for Palestinians, not for Jews."

"What do you expect from a panel containing a justice who won´t sing Hatikva?" Eyal added, in a dig at Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran, who declined to sing the national anthem at Supreme Court President (emeritus) Dorit Beinisch´s retirement ceremony.

Eyal called on the Knesset to strengthen legislation to resolve land disputes in the West Bank in different ways.

Right-wing parliamentarians said they planned to turn to the Knesset and urge it to legislate a solution that would nullify the court decision.

Both MK Danny Danon (Likud) and MK Uri Ariel (National Union) called on lawmakers to approve legislation which would legalize all the outposts, including Migron.

Danon said he planned to ask the Knesset to hold a special session on the matter during the Pesach break. (© 1995-2011, The Jerusalem Post 03/25/12)