The Land of Israel Legal Forum has accused the Supreme Court of dragging out proceedings on two petitions regarding the Judea and Samaria construction freeze. By lengthening the process, Forum members say, the court has given the state time to continue destroying Jewish-built structures. The government agreed four months ago to halt, for ten months, all construction in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, in an attempt to coax the Palestinian Authority back to the negotiating table. The building "freeze" has had serious financial ramifications for construction companies, those who purchased homes, and others. The Legal Forum filed a petition arguing that the building freeze is illegal, and asking that the government be required to compensate those who suffered financial damages due to sudden ban on construction. However, the court “wants to avoid giving a verdict regarding compensation,” Legal Forum attorney Motti Mintzer said Monday. The petition was submitted immediately after the building freeze became official, he noted. In a parallel effort, the Land of Israel Legal Forum worked with MKs Danny Danon and Uri Ariel to create an agreement on compensation payments for direct victims of the freeze, final details of which have not been worked out. In addition, Mintzer filed a petition on behalf of several individuals whose homes in Judea and Samaria are slated for demolition. While the court delays its decision on that petition, the State continues to demolish the homes, he said. “We requested an interim injunction, to halt the destruction of properties mentioned in the petition,” he said. “The court has not responded, and is playing games... The court gave the state 30 days to respond. Then it asked us for a response, which we gave immediately. A month and a half has gone by without a response from the Supreme Court.” “This delay of justice is worse than a distortion of justice,” Mintzer said. He has supplied the court with evidence of demolitions that continue to take place despite the ongoing trial, he said, but the court did not order the state to explain its actions or halt the demolitions until a verdict is given. The Supreme Court is not necessarily working with the state, he said. However, he said, “This court has an agenda, and in the current conditions they prefer not to give a verdict.” The Compensation Suit The Judea and Samaria building freeze has had a financial “domino effect,” Mintzer said in explanation of the Legal Forum compensation suit. “There is a chain reaction. Renters were supposed to move into apartments, which were supposed to be empty” after their current residents had moved on to permanent homes, he said. “There is a domino effect, and indirect damages adding up to hundreds of millions of shekels.” The government has shown readiness to compensate those directly harmed by the building freeze under the Danon-Ariel arrangement, Mintzer said. However, he said, the state has not offered compensation to indirect victims, such as those whose banks rescinded mortgage offers due to the freeze.
