Free Republic

To our Brothers and Neighbors, the Courageous Residents of Migron, On this difficult day for the Jewish people, we are one. Ten years after we moved into our neighborhood, built with the blessing and aid of Israeli governments, we experienced firsthand the sufferings brought on by the hatred-motivated verdicts of the radical fringe groups that have taken over the state prosecutor's office and the Supreme Court. In pretending to uphold the rule of law, they have trampled upon both law and justice, destroying a lovely residential neighborhood in the heart of Israel and divided its population into two. But how...

An IDF soldier was accused of refusing to participate in an exercise that was conducted several days before the evacuation of five buildings in the Ulpana neighborhood in Beit El that were designed to deal with the aftermath of the evacuation. The exercise was designed to teach soldiers how to handle “price tag” actions by youths opposed to the evacuation. Channel Two reported that the soldier refused to participate, telling commanders that this was not what he had joined the IDF for. The soldier was ejected from a commanders' course he was enrolled in....

Residents of the Ulpana neighborhood of Beit El, whose homes were ordered to be demolished by the Supreme Court, agreed on Tuesday evening to leave their homes willingly and non-violently. In return, the government will keep its promise to built 300 new homes in Beit El. The agreement between the residents and the government was signed after ten days of negotiations between government representatives and representatives from Beit El, including the town’s rabbi, Rav Zalman Baruch Melamed, and its mayor Moshe Rosenbaum. ..... The agreement also stipulates that the homes on the disputed land will be moved to a new...

Police are getting ready for a confrontation with residents and protesters in the Ulpana neighborhood. On Sunday, Arutz Sheva's Hebrew service uncovered a training plan for Border Guards and other security forces, that included drills aimed at providing troops with skills to remove men, women, and children from the Givat Ha'ulpana neighborhood of Beit El. On Monday, Ha'aretz reported that some 1,000 troops were to be provided with that training. According to a decision by the High Court, Jewish residents of the neighborhood have until the end of the month to leave their homes. When they do, they will find...

There is growing rage in Beit El, where residents feel that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu knowingly misled them when he promised to build 300 homes instead of the 30 homes to be destroyed in Givat HaUlpana. Residents are said to be preparing for "a harsh struggle" over the homes. Tensions are running high in the community north of Jerusalem. A Defense Ministry team that came to Beit El to gauge the feasibility of moving the homes from Givat HaUlpana by a technique that has become known as "sawing" fled after being pelted with rocks and paint. No one was hurt....

Hundreds of families have moved to Beit El’s Ulpana neighborhood, local council head Moshe Rosenbaum told Arutz Sheva. “They are sleeping there, in order to prevent [demolition] with their bodies, in order to say that there is no way it will happen,” he said. He preferred not to specify the “red lines” that protesters will not cross. Earlier in the day MK Yaakov “Ketzaleh” Katz said demonstrators will not harm soldiers, but will give “everything they can” to prevent the planned forcible eviction. Protesters are not comforted by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s promise to build 10 new homes in Beit...

Hundreds of people have been flowing to the neighborhood of Givat HaUlpana in Beit El since the Knesset voted down a law that was intended to try to save it from destruction after the Supreme Court ruled that it should be demolished since the state prosecution did not present objections to an Arab's claim that the sale of the land to Jews was fraudulent. About 300 people came to the neighborhood on Sunday, to raise the residents' spirits and to join the struggle for saving the neighborhood. Most of the visitors came from outside Judea and Samaria (Yehuda and Shomron)....

Nationalists in the coalition caved in and abstained from the Knesset vote Wednesday afternoon that rejected a bill to legalize five homes in the Ulpana neighborhood in Beit El, forcing the expulsion of 30 families. The vote as 22 for the bill and 69 against. Absent from the vote were all of the ministers and deputy ministers who vowed to test Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s ultimatum to vote against the bill or be fired. Among those who left the Knesset before the vote were Jewish Home leader Daniel Hershkowitz and Likud ministers Yuli Edelstein and Ayoub Kara. Prime Minister Binyamin...

Nationalists in the coalition caved in and abstained from the Knesset vote Wednesday afternoon that rejected a bill to legalize five homes in the Ulpana neighborhood in Beit El, forcing the expulsion of 30 families. The vote as 22 for the bill and 69 against. Absent from the vote were all of the ministers and deputy ministers who vowed to test Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s ultimatum to vote against the bill or be fired. Among those who left the Knesset before the vote were Jewish Home leader Daniel Hershkowitz and Likud ministers Yuli Edelstein and Ayoub Kara. Prime Minister Binyamin...

Protesters showed their support of the Regulation Law in a demonstration near the Supreme Court shortly before a vote on the bill. Dozens of youths and young adults blocked the road near the court house in Jerusalem before the Knesset plenum was scheduled to decide on the measure, which would retroactively legalize Beit El's Ulpana neighborhood. The so-called Regulation Bill requires anyone claiming ownership of land upon which homes are being built to file a challenge and prove ownership within four years of the start of construction upon the property. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who arranged for the five apartment...

The Prime Minister's Bureau has contacted all ministers and deputy ministers and made clear that the government opposes the proposed Regulation Law that will come up for a vote Wednesday. The law would make it possible to compensate land owners who were wronged in construction of communities in Judea and Samaria, without having to hand over the land or tear down homes built upon it. Channel 2 News reported that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's men made clear to the ministers and deputies that if any of them vote in favor of the Regulation Law, they will be fired from the...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu decided Saturday that the Ulpana neighborhood of Beit El in the Binyamin region will be evacuated. Netanyahu decided that the homes will not be destroyed, but rather will be copied to a military area within Beit El. For each home that is evacuated, “build 10 new structures.” In accordance with the decision the homes will be copied from their site to an agreed-upon area. In accordance with the prime minister's decision, the homes to be evacuated will be dismantled in their entirety and moved in the same manner as took place in the Templar army headquarters...

Caravans that were to be brought to Beit El will be transferred to the Lachish region, Government Secretary Tzvika Hauser said Friday morning, speaking to MKs Zevulun Orlev and Zeev Elkin. The transfer of the caravans had led to fear that the government was preparing to demolish homes in the Binyamin-area town despite promises to find a way to save the homes. Hauser’s announcement followed overnight meetings aimed at stopping preparations for demolition. The coalition had agreed not to carry out any preparations until after voting on the Regulation Law, a bill that would legalize the threatened Beit El homes...

Forty caravans (converted mobile homes) will be brought to Beit El in the coming days, in preparation for the planned demolition of the Givat HaUlpana neighborhood and the eviction of its residents from their homes. The move is in contravention of the Prime Minister's commitment to freeze all preparations for an eviction while efforts were being made to find other solutions to the problem. Arutz Sheva has learned that the caravans were intended for Jews in the community of Bnei Dekalim – who were uprooted from Gaza in the 2005 "Disengagement" and still have not found permanent residence. Instead, they...

The residents of the Ulpana neighborhood in Beit El welcomed on Wednesday evening the statement by Minister Yuli Edelstein, who promised that he would support a law regulating disputed Jewish communities, even if he has to pay with it by being dismissed. “We commend the minister on his absolute loyalty to the Likud platform, to morality, to the settlement enterprise in general and to the residents of the Ulpana neighborhood in particular, and call on all ministers to follow him and prevent the Israeli government from being stained by injustice,” the residents said. “Prime Minister Netanyahu must stand behind his...

Likud Knesset members reacted harshly Wednesday after Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy Dan Meridor said on television that the Givat HaUlpana neighborhood in Beit El must be torn down and that legalization is not an option. One Likud MK told Arutz Sheva: "Minister Meridor is a Peace Now man who was planted in the Likud faction and in the government." A source close to the Prime Minister also reacted with anger and said: "Meridor wants the Prime Minister's downfall. Meridor belongs to the furthest tip of the far left. He knows that he has no...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reportedly said Sunday that saving Beit El's threatened Ulpana neighborhood is a "challenge the public can tackle." Now, following the Supreme Court's rejection on Monday of his government's petition for a 90 day extension in which to determine a solution to the problem, the need for a solution is imminent. Arutz Sheva learned on Tuesday that Netanyahu is weighing his options for averting the destruction of the five homes slated for demolition against a ticking clock. Sources close to Netanyahu say the short time allotted – a mere two months – would make drafting legislation and...

Ministers in the Netanyahu government on Monday said the Supreme Court's decision to reject the State's appeal for more time to find a way to normalize the status of Beit El's threatened Ulpana neighborhood would force them to pursue "a legislative solution." Minister of Education Gideon Sa'ar (Likud) said, "The High Court decision on the Ulpana neighborhood is simply unfair. We must consider the possibility of legislation to prevent the demolition of houses there." Minister of Culture and Sport Limor Livnat (Likud) said, "Given the Court's decision in this case, as well as in Migron, it seems inevitable legislation is...

The government will stand or fall in the next two weeks depending on what happens in the Israeli community of Beit El, north of Jerusalem. Ministers have informed Netanyahu that if the Ulpana neighborhood of Beit El is destroyed, his coalition will follow. The warning came during a cabinet meeting in which the timetable for Judea and Samaria demolitions was revealed. Ulpana is scheduled to be demolished on May 1, the Givat Assaf community several weeks later, and Migron on August 1. Ministers told Netanyahu that the timetable is irrelevant, because if the May 1 destruction of Ulpana were to...