Removing a major legal obstacle to the pullout, Israel Supreme Court rejected on Thursday 12 petitions submitted by settlers and some Knesset members calling halt of disengagement.
The 11-judge panel headed by Chief Justice Aharon Barak decided to uphold the government’s plan to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the West Bank.ÂÂ
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The court decided that that West Bank and the Gaza area are lands seized during warfare, and are not part of Israel.
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The justices ruled that the disengagement plan as presently envisaged is legal and that its implementation poses no constitutional problems.
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Justice Edmund Levy cast the sole dissenting vote in the 10-1 decision. Levy said the plan should be cancelled.
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While the judges ruled that the evacuation of settlements do harm human rights, including the right to property, freedom of occupation and proper respect for the evacuees, they also ruled that this was a measured violation, which does not exceed that which is required and is aimed at achieving political and security goals.
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One such issue was the disengagement’s perceived infringement of human rights, which are protected by the Basic Laws.
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The settlers slammed the ruling saying it is irrelevant and that they had no better expectations from the court.
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Yoram Sheftel, an attorney for the settlers, alleged that the court has a tendency to rule against the Jewish settlers.
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‘We didn’t expect anything from this court since the petitioners are Jews and patriots,’ Sheftel said. ‘This was fully expected. There’s no surprise. I’m not disappointed because we didn’t have any expectations.’
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Court also ordered some technical changes.  However, the court rescinded four financial arrangements relating to compensation for the future evacuees.
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Israeli news website Haaretz published the details of the ruling with regards to the technical changes.
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According to Haaretz, the court rejected a clause which would have barred recipients of compensation from filing a standard lawsuit for damages.
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Rejecting a deadline specified by the law, the court allowed settlers 30 days to choose the nature of the compensation plan they preferred.
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The court ruled that settlers under 21 may receive compensation. The law had set 21 as the minimum age for receipt of compensation funds.
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Additionally, the court ruled that the day of actual evacuation will be used as the date used for determination of the elements of the compensation package for each family, rather than June 4, 2004, as stated by the law.
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Supreme Court to rule on pullout
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The Israeli Supreme Court is to rule on 12 appeals mainly by settlers and Knesset Members to halt the intended pullout from the Gaza Strip.ÂÂ
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The petitions could delay the withdrawal, scheduled for mid-August, should the court accept them.
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While, one of the appeals accuses that Disengagement is illegal on the basis that it undermines human rights, other ones demand an increase in the government compensation for settlers slated for evacuation. The compensation currently stands at about USD 300,000.
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The court failed to visit the 21 settlements slated for evacuation as suggested by some of the judges.
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“I’m very sorry the judges did not visit,” said Yitzhak Meron, who represents some of the plaintiffs. “I think visiting the place whose destiny you’re about to determine is essential. The Supreme Court has a great opportunity to save Israel from a problematic move and from a social trauma.”
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Judges are in odds on this issue, while some of them are in favor of the plan, others seem to be against it.
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One judge, Zvi Tal, said the pullout plan was an “injustice and even a harsher crime given certain circumstances.”
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Speaking to law students at Hebrew University, he said he found no Israeli law that justified the withdrawal.
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“Why cause suffering to so many people?” he said. “The government has free and unlimited judgment.”
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