“The outpost will be evacuated. It is illegal. It is not at all a question of right or left. It is an order from the army and the civil administration,” declared Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid at a June 22 press conference.
Evyatar is an illegal outpost in the domain of the Samaria Regional Council, close to the Palestinian villages of Beita and Yatma. The Israel Defense Forces has ordered its evacuation and now it is the center of a political storm. According the security establishment, the outpost has fueled conflict. The IDF has long kept tabs on the activities in the outpost and the site has been built up in recent years, including structures inhabited by dozens of families in violation of the law. Reports this evening say that Defense Minister Benny Gantz reached a compromise with the settlers, but no official decision has been published.
