Israeli court rejects petition to postpone outpost evacuation

Israel's Supreme Court denied a request by the State of Israel on Monday to postpone evacuating an unauthorized Jewish outpost built on private Palestinian land in the West Bank.

The ruling puts Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right coalition at odds with the country's top court, amidst efforts by the government to retroactively legalize the outpost.

In 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that Amona was illegally built on private Palestinian land and must be demolished by December 25, 2016.

However, pressured by his far-right partners - Jewish Home and Israel Our Home - Netanyahu agreed to petition the court for a seven-month postponement.

On Monday, the court unanimously rejected the petition, noting that the government has repeatedly postponed executing the evacuation time.

"In this case, as with previous ones, we have been asked at the last minute to extend the date of an evacuation that was set by a judgment," said the court, according to a copy of the decision sent to Xinhua.

The judges said that if they continue to allow these extensions, the dates set might "turn into recommendations," instead of orders.

The judges addressed a secret review submitted to the court by Israel's Shin Bet security service, which warned that evictions might trigger a violent reaction by settlers, with consequences to "the security of the region."

According to the judges, these types of threats communicate the message that executing judgments can be prevented by threats of violence, "a message with which cannot be accepted in a state of law," said the judges.

In recent years, settlers reacted aggressively to several attempts by the state to evict the unauthorized outpost.

The reactions involved clashes with security forces and the so-called "price tag" attacks, when ultra-nationalist Israelis assaulted Palestinians and their properties.

The ruling comes a day after the government's Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs voted in favor of a bill to prevent the eviction.

The government's Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs is chaired by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked from the pro-settler Jewish Home party.

The bill aims to legalize the outpost by allowing the government to expropriate Palestinian land on which it was built.

The proposed legislation still needs to be voted in the Knesset, or parliament, and is scheduled for a preliminary reading in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday.

The Israeli anti-settlement organization Peace Now condemned the decision, saying it would petition the Supreme Court should the bill pass.

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit warned ministers that such a law would be unconstitutional and that he will not be able to defend it in court.

This law is expected to trigger angry responses from Palestinians and the international community, who consider the settlements constructed on lands where Palestinians wish to establish their future state as a major obstacle to peace.

Amona, east of Ramallah city, is the largest among the so-called "unauthorized outposts," which are communities built by far-right Israelis without government permits.

There are about 100 unauthorized outposts and 120 settlements that Israel considers legal.

However, both outposts and settlements are illegal under international law as they were built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Mideast War. Endit