Yesha Head Opposes Permanent Checkpoints Around Palestinian Towns

YERUSHALAYIM
Hananel Dorani, Mayor of Kedumim and chairman of the Yesha council. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The head of the Yesha council representing residents of Yehudah and Shomron has come out against the restoration of permanent checkpoints around Palestinian towns, a response to recent terrorist attacks proposed by the security establishment, The Times of Israel reported on Wednesday.

“I oppose the security concept of placing checkpoints in Yehudah and Shomron, which will harm the quality of life of innocent Palestinians,” said Yesha chairman Hananel Dorani in a meeting with reporters at the group’s offices in Yerushalayim.

“Security needs to outweigh civilian needs,” he said, but in contrast with other regional leaders, took the view that the many checkpoints dismantled by the IDF in recent years should not be made permanent again.

Dorani’s position is said to be in line with the consensus among security officials, who are feel compelled to respond to public pressure for tougher measures.

Last week, over 100 activists led by the far-right Otzma Yehudit group temporarily blocked the entrances to Shechem in a protest calling on the IDF to reinstate permanent checkpoints around the Palestinian city following the fatal shooting of Rabbi Raziel Shevach, Hy”d, outside the nearby Chavat Gilad outpost.

Regarding the recent furor over state allocations for the paving of bypass roads around Palestinian towns, Dorani was also surprisingly moderate, advising residents not to cast it as a security issue. He supports it, but on the grounds that the improvements are necessary from the point of view of road safety, not security.

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