The “special committee” of the Israeli Disengagement Administration decided on Wednesday that settler families who will be evacuated from the northern West Bank settlements and choose to move to Afula or Gar-Ner under the control of the Gilboa Regional Council will receive the $30.000 “Negev and Galilee grant”.
The committee already approved the grant for 12 settler families from Kadim and Ghanim settlements.
The “standing loan”, which equals 135.000NIS, will be granted to families which relocate to the Negev or Galilee, and become a grant for them if they remain at least five years in the national-priority area.
Disengagement Administration committee is entitled to approve compensation, increase the sum, even if the eligibility term by law has not been fulfilled.
Although the administration approved the twelve requests of the settler families, the decision is not considered a standard for every other request; every request will be considered separately.
On the other hand, the Israeli High Court of Justice is considering the possibility of expanding its panel that is hearing petitions filed by the Green Organizations and Nitzan settlers, against the construction of temporary housing in Nitzan area.
High Court judges Ahaaron Barak, Mishael Cheshin and Dorit Beinisch decided on Wednesday to postpone the debate on the request for a restriction of the construction work until next Tuesday.
The Israeli Union for Environmental Defense said that this decision means missing the opportunity to stop the construction and ‘prevent irreversible damage that will constitute and historical mistake”.
“The court has allowed the continuation of a work which is conducted without a building permit and without an approved plan”, the Union reported.
Yair Farjun, director of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel’s field school in Nitzanim said that “the High Court allowed an irreversible damage determining the fate of the area, after 50 pieces of heavy machinery started to work 24 hours a day over the past week”.
