The State has informed the Supreme Court that it intends to demolish some of the illegal structures erected in a Palestinian Arab outpost built by the Nawajah clan near the Jewish town of Sussiya, south of Hevron in Judea. Legal proceedings against the site have been underway since 2011, when the Regavim organization first petitioned for the demolition of the illegal outpost built between the Israeli community of Sussiya and the National Park of Ancient Sussiya. The Arabs living in the area who filed a counterpetition in 2014 continued to build illegally while taking advantage of the lengthy appeals process. They even demanded that 1,500 dunums (370 acres) be allocated for them and that the outpost be “normalized” in its present location and recognized as a "neighborhood" of the town of Yatta. The Supreme Planning Council of the Civil Administration rejected the plan, since the town of Yatta is several kilometers from the outpost. The State then proposed normalizing the outpost on state lands defined as having “adjacent walls” with Yatta. The State's response, submitted to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, stated that in accordance with the Supreme Court order that was issued at the request of Regavim, it intends to demolish all the structures that were erected in the outpost from February 2014 - the date the petition was filed - and buildings that were built in violation of judicial orders. The State noted that the Supreme Planning Council would reexamine the “adjacent walls” principle and would consider normalizing the outpost, and that until a decision is made, enforcement would not be employed against extant buildings at the site. The State further emphasized that it does not commit to normalizing the illegal outpost in its current location, nor does it undertake to implement the plan for the outpost, but will allow the inhabitants to submit a plan at their expense to the planning institutions. The State also noted that the approval of this plan, if submitted, depends on the approval of the political echelon. "The residents of the Nawajah outpost are a blatant example of the unprecedented disrespect for the Supreme Court. Throughout the judicial process, they continued their illegal construction in repeated violation of the Court’s rulings," says Yishai Hemo, Manager of Operations in Judea and Samaria for Regavim, which had already petitioned against the outpost in 2011. "The State is expected to meet its obligation to demolish all the structures erected in violation of the court order as soon as possible, and not to submit to unacceptable pressure," Hemo added.
