Israel Matzav: Heroes' widows and orphans homes may get reprieve?

Heroes' widows and orphans homes may get reprieve?

The Defense Ministry is looking to find a way to convince the High Court of Justice not to force it to demolish the homes of Major Eliraz Peretz HY"D (may God avenge his blood), who was killed in action along the Gaza border fence on Friday, and of Major Roi Klein HY"D, who was killed in the battle of Bint Jbeil in Lebanon in the summer of 2006. Peretz and Klein both lived in the neighborhood of Givat HaYovel in the Samarian town of Eli along with their wives and children and 15 other families. The Defense Ministry has until May 1 to notify the High Court of Justice how it plans to demolish the neighborhood. The order to demolish the neighborhood derives from a lawsuit brought by Peace Now in 2005, which claimed that parts of the neighborhood were built on 'Palestinian' land.

On Sunday, a senior defense official said that in the coming weeks the IDF Blue Line Group – a branch of the Military Advocate General’s Office responsible for marking Israel’s borders – would conduct a review of the Givat Hayovel outpost.

Following the demarcation, the Defense Ministry will submit its response to the High Court of Justice.

To date, the outpost, created in 1998, is unauthorized because it was built without all the necessary legal approvals, even though it was given NIS 250,000 from the Ministry of Housing and Construction.

Twelve of the 17 homes and 30 caravans on the outpost were built on land which the civil administration contends is partially owned by Palestinians. It issued a demolition order against the homes when construction started, but never acted on the order.

In May 2005, Peace Now petitioned the High Court of Justice to ensure that the administration enforce its demolition orders.

In the past, the court has rejected attempts by the state to reexamine the outpost’s legal status. The state now has until May 1 to present the court with a timetable for the demolition of the homes.

The Defense Ministry has been sitting on this story for way too long (you will recall that I first reported that Klein's home was to be destroyed in July 2009).

Israel Matzav: Heroes' widows and orphans homes may get reprieve?