Even pro-settlement Israeli parties give up fighting for Amona settlers
Politicians on the Israeli right appear to see the writing on the Supreme Court wall and have abandoned the battle over dismantling the West Bank outpost of Amona.
Judging by the poor attendance of senior Likud officials at the Sept. 12 emergency meeting to save the West Bank outpost of Amona, the ruling party has no intention of sacrificing much to prevent the evacuation of the outpost illegally established on Palestinian-owned land.
The most senior participant at the gathering was Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, who is linked with the settler movement. She was joined on stage by three Likud backbenchers: Oren Hazan, Amir Ohana and Yehuda Glick. Science Minister Ofir Akunis sent a supportive video message that Amona promptly posted on Facebook, but that just about sums up the party’s support at the gathering.
According to a 2014 Supreme Court ruling, the 50 families living in Amona will have to evacuate their homes by the end of 2016, since the houses were built on privately held Palestinian land and the current residents failed to produce documents proving that the land had been purchased. As the implementation of the ruling approaches, political tensions are rising, with settlers looking to the right-wing parties in the coalition — the Likud, HaBayit HaYehudi and Yisrael Beitenu — to save them. Over the past few weeks, the staff overseeing the struggle to prevent the evacuation of Amona went into high gear, applying all the pressure they can muster on Knesset members to prevent the dismantling of the outpost.
The struggle, however, has failed to gain momentum. Based on the responses of Knesset members and ministers on the right, it does not look like the fate of Amona will be cause to dismantle the government, a conclusion that runs counter to prior assessments within the political system.
