© Olivier Fitoussi West Bank settlement outpost of Megron.
Israel's Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an unprecedented ruling ordering the state to dismantle the largest illegal settlement outpost in the West Bank by April 2012.
The decision follows a petition filed by Peace Now movement.
Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch harshly criticized the Israeli government for failing to dismantle the outpost of Migron, which is home to some 50 families, despite earlier promises it would do so and after it had admitted that it was in fact built on lands belonging to Palestinians.
Beinisch said the Supreme Court has tried to show restraint despite the blatant illegality of the outpost.
"There is no doubt, that according to Israeli law, no settlements can be built on private lands of Palestinians," Beinisch said.
In the court ruling, the Supreme Court justices said that they recognize the difficulties surrounding the dismantling of such an outpost, which has already expanded to 50 families, but said this could have been avoided if the state had initially worked to better enforce the law and prevented the construction of Migron in the first place.
This is the first time the Supreme Court has ordered the state to dismantle an outpost in the West Bank, and the move brings the subject back onto the court's agenda. The decision to dismantle an outpost as large as Migron is likely to cause a political storm in the West Bank settlements.
Israel lies between the ancient civilizations of Sumer and Egypt. The land trade routes seem to have either gone directly across Arabia via Petra or north to Lebanon and then down through the valley of the Jordan River or along its east bank. We are talking about the west bank of the Jordan, between it and the Mediterranean Sea. The area is full of sites of ancient religious importance, and Jerusalem is at the very center of it.
But other than Jerusalem, these areas do not include the main ancient civilization centers. So I don't totally understand what is so attractive about this region, aside from its historical significance. Yet it could be that the mountains in this region have an importance that is not apparent from maps alone.
From looking at the maps, making the "West Bank" and Israel two separate countries makes so little sense! It is like saying that the heart and the lungs could survive well without being connected to each other! They need to work something out that is sensible.
Of course, whatever property rights are currently agreed to should be respected. But the West Bank is a part of Israel, as far as geography goes. The only vaguely sensible division that could be made in the area is north-south. Each political section needs access to the Mediterranean and access to the old inland areas. But they would be much better off to get over their differences and learn to share that land.