The crowdfunding campaign by the My Israel movement to return soldier Yehuda Hayisraeli to his home in the Ofra settlement has moved and galvanized Israelis from across the political spectrum. At the same time, however, it has brought to the fore the issue of construction on the West Bank.

Hayisraeli, a member of the Givati Brigade, suffered a serious head wound while pursing the kidnappers of another Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier, Lt. Hadar Goldin, in Rafah during Operation Protective Edge in summer 2014. Hayisraeli has spent nearly two years in hospitals and rehabilitation centers, and in light of his condition, his family asked the Defense Ministry to allocate 1.5 million shekels ($193,000) to build a handicap-accessible annex adjacent to the family’s home.

To their consternation, they were told that the ministry could not provide financial assistance without a construction permit first being obtained. The problem is that such a permit cannot be issued because the Ofra settlement has been ruled illegal, having been built on private Palestinian property. Most of the houses built since Ofra’s establishment are illegal. On June 6, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a letter to the recently appointed defense minister, Avigdor Liberman, requesting that he find a solution to allow Hayisraeli to leave the hospital and return home.

Established in 1975, the Ofra settlement is one of the oldest Jewish communities in the occupied territories, consisting of 650 families, most of whom hail from the religious kibbutz movement and are alumni of the Mercaz Harav Kook national-religious yeshiva in Jerusalem.