The Israeli High Court of Justice on Monday turned down settlers’ petitions against the evacuation of the unauthorized West Bank outpost of Givat Haroeh.
Residents of the outpost said that they had received assurances from the defense minister that the army would not evacuate the outpost and would begin the process of legalizing it.
The government, however, denied that any assurances to keep the outpost intact were made, confirming that in 2002 the defense minister ordered a temporarily delay to allow both sides to come to an agreement for a voluntary and peaceful evacuation.
Settlers presented the court with an affidavit signed by Rabbi Eli Sadan, who heads the pre-army preparatory program in Eli, in which he said that the prime minister and defense minister promised to leave the outpost intact and legalize it.
The court ruled that the security officials’ decision to remove the outpost from the list of outposts slated for immediate evacuation does not constitute an obligation to leave the outpost intact.
The High Court also canceled a temporary injunction issued three months ago that had placed the evacuation on hold.
The court ruling paves the way for army to go ahead and remove the outpost.
