High Court Rejects Amona Declaration, Demands “Unmistakeable” Pledge to Leave

Jerusalem, 22 December, 2016 (TPS) -- Update: 4:58 pm  The High Court of Justice has accepted a revised pledge by Amona residents to leave the site peacefully. 

The High Court of Justice ruled Thursday that a promise by the Amona residents’ committee earlier in the day to leave the settlement outpost “peacefully and without physical resistance” was insufficient and gave the residents until 5 pm  to issue a revised statement.

At issue is the final clause in the letter, which expresses residents’ expectation that the government will honor its commitment to build alternative buildings for the community on an adjacent hill. The court said the sentence presented an unacceptable condition for a peaceful evacuation; residents denied said it was only a statement of expectations, not a condition.

Earlier this week, the court agreed to a compromise agreement calling for residents to leave the site peacefully and without physical resistance in exchange for sate assurances that replacement buildings would be provided and that the coalition would support the so-called Legalization Bill, a controversial measure that would give the government the authority to retroactively expropriate land if Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are found to be situated on land that was previously owned by Palestinians.