February 8, 2001 | The Defense Minister is permitting the illegal construction retroactively; the rule of law in Israeli society pays a heavy price for his actions.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak admitted to the Israeli Supreme Court that he approved a plan to authorise 15 permanent structures built without permits in the settlement of Kiryat Netafim near Ariel. In addition, the state informed the judges that Barak approved a plan to authorize 10 illegal structures in the settlement of Neve Tzuf , in the Binyamin area.
Peace Now General Director Yariv Oppenheimer: “Gallant, the candidate for Army Chief was stripped of his nomination for illegal construction on land not his own.. Yet settlers are allowed to do exactly the same if over the Green Line, they can take over the land and build illegally without any permit. It is strange that in the settler’s case the Attorney General and the state comptroller did not intervene. The Defense Minister is permitting the illegal construction retroactively; the rule of law in Israeli society pays a heavy price for his actions.”