Court to hold new hearing on demolition of Mitzpe Kramim outpost homes

The High Court of Justice agreed on Tuesday to hold a new hearing on the pending demolition of illegally built settler homes in the West Bank outpost of Mitzpe Keramim. The decision reopens the debate on the use of the market regulation principle, a legal tool that the Israeli Right argues should be used to help authorize settler homes that they say were built in good faith on what subsequently was discovered to be privately owned Palestinian property. In March, the court ruled that more than 30 structures in the unauthorized hilltop community should be demolished within 36 months, because they were built on land owned by Palestinians. The justices gave a nod in the direction of a market regulation that afforded special standing to illegal building by those who did not know they were breaking the law. In August, the justices said that while the market principle could be applied with regard to the illegal settler homes in Mitzpe Keramim, in this specific instance it could not be applied. But on Tuesday, the court said it would hear arguments with regard to the applicability of the market principle to the homes slated for demotion. The issue in Mitzpe Keramim is complicated because the IDF moved the outpost to its current location on agricultural land on the outskirts of the Kochav Hashahar settlement. The state has argued to the court that the outpost residents could not, therefore, have known that they were living on private Palestinian property. A magistrate's court earlier ruled in favor of the outpost and in support of the market regulation, but Palestinians then appealed to the High Court of Justice, and that ruling was overturned. Now the High Court has decided to reexamine its decision to evacuate homes in the outpost. In a statement about the High Court's decision to hold another debate on the matter, the Mitzpe Keramim residents said they welcomed the move, noting they understood that this case could be precedent-setting when it comes to the possible use of the market regulation in Judea and Samaria. The initial High Court decision to evacuate the outpost, they said, had not given proper weight to the harm and injustice done to the outpost families. The left-wing group Peace Now said it plans to ask to join the case as a “friend of the court” so that it could present an argument explaining why the market regulation was dangerous. Overall, in the West Bank, Peace Now said, settlers have grabbed some 1,000 hectares of private Palestinian lands on which they have built some 7,000 homes. “A detailed description of the way the Israeli authorities and the Settlement Division administer the lands” would show that these activities were “far from being in good faith,” Peace Now said. Israel Ganz, the head of Binyamin Regional Council, called on politicians to save Mitzpe Keramim by legislating to restrain the court. “Unfortunately, the court has proven all along that its rulings are political and taken from the left-wing's handbook. We have no expectations from the judges. We have unequivocal demands from elected officials,” Ganz said. He called on the politicians to help ensure that Mitzpe Keramim remains in its current location on the outskirts of the Kochav Hashahar settlement and to work to strengthen all settlements in Judea and Samaria. The High Court decision comes as the government is under pressure from right-wing politicians to legalize unauthorized settler construction in both the settlements and the outposts.

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Court to hold new hearing on demolition of Mitzpe Kramim outpost homes

The decision reopens the legal debate on the use of the market regulation principle.

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