Deputy DM: No More Caravan Evacuations Without My Say-So

YERUSHALAYIM
At the levaya of Hallel Yaffa Ariel (Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP/Getty Images)
At the levayah of Hallel Yaffah Ariel, Hy”d. (Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP/Getty Images)

From now on, Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan said Tuesday, any evictions from mobile homes at locations in Yehudah and Shomron will require his authorization. Ben-Dahan made the decision in the wake of the evacuation of the Mitzpeh Avichai outpost in near Kiryat Arba.

Security forces descended on the outpost early Tuesday and began evacuating ten families from caravans that had been placed on the site to commemorate the murder of Hallel Yaffah Ariel, Hy”d, who was murdered in June as she slept in her room in Kiryat Arba. Among those thrown out of their caravans were members of the Ariel family.

According to family members, the caravans were placed in an area that is part of the zoned construction area of Kiryat Arba, and that there were no disputes recorded over the land. In a letter to Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, Amichai Ariel, father of Hallel, said that the evacuation “distressed” him and his family, “and is an invitation to the next murder,” as terrorists will realize that there are no consequences for their actions of murdering Jews.

Commenting on the evacuation, MK Miki Zohar (Likud) said that the government’s actions “send a disturbing message to terror groups that Israel is surrendering to them. 292 homes are planned for that site as part of the growth plan of Kiryat Arba, and the site was set up to honor the memory of Hallel Yaffah.”

Ben-Dahan said that the previous rules on evacuating caravans – in which the Civil Authority could decide on its own to remove them without the approval of the political echelon – had been instituted by former Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, and that decision was now being reversed.

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