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Supreme Court decides to launder Matityahu East
Nir Shalev
5.09.07

In a technical and laconic verdict given today (Sept 5, 2007), the Supreme Court (Judges Na’or, Rivlin and Prokachya) rejected the petitions of the village of Bil’in and Peace Now against the construction of the Matityahu East neighbourhood in the settlement Modi’in Illit (HCJ 143/06, 1526/07). Judge Na’or, who wrote the verdict, stated that all the building in the compound was illegal. However, she and her colleagues decided not to intervene with the decision of the High Planning Board in Beit El to approve the new plan for the neighbourhood, which will launder almost all the illegal building done and will allow many more buildings to be erected. The almost exclusive argument for rejecting the petitions: timing. Thus, without looking into the substance of the arguments of the plaintiffs, the Court decided to reject the petitions saying that these arguments should have been put forward back in 1998, when the first plan for the neighbourhood was deposited, and not now. It is clear from the verdict that the judges used almost every possible technical excuse in order to refrain from dealing with the arguments of the plaintiffs. Had these arguments been accepted, a revolution in the planning system of the Civil Administration would have been necessary.

In many respected, today’s verdict contradicts yesterday’s verdict on the barrier (HCJ 8414/05).

And yet, given the fact that according to Court the first petition (143/06) was fully justified, they ordered the respondents to pay the plaintiffs expenses at 160,000 shekels.


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