I had the opportunity to read Prof. Shahar Lifshitz's excellent article "Sheikh Jarach Corner of Mitzpe Karim".
Prof. Lifshitz analyzes in the article the Supreme Court's ruling on the appeal in the Sheik Jarach matter and states that the majority judges, Barak Erez and Amit, who decided to accept the appeal and prevent the eviction of the residents, largely painted the target around pressure.
Or in the gentle words Prof. Lifshitz chose to express - the majority judges were willing to exercise creative legal thinking and take unusual legal steps to reach the desired result and prevent damage to the roof of the tenants.
In the name of protecting this value, the judges of the majority overturned the "mechanistic" decision of the district court, which ruled according to common law and ordered the eviction of the tenants in Sheikh Jarrah and the return of the property to its owners.
Prof. Lifshitz mentions in the article the ruling of the Supreme Court, which ordered the evacuation of the residents of the settlement of Mitzpe Keramim in Benjamin.
There the majority opinion actually overturned the decision of the "mechanistic" district court, which stated that the conditions of the "market regulation" were met and therefore the right of the residents prevails over the right of the owners of the land that was deserted.
Prof. Lifshitz does a good job of showing in his article how the value principles acted on their behalf by the majority judges in the Sheik Jarach case were completely abandoned by the majority judges when it came to the Israeli families living in Mitzpe Karim.
These days, the Supreme Court judges are sitting in an extensive composition on writing the verdict in the "additional hearing" regarding the Mitzpe Karim case.
Among them are judges Barak Erez and Amit, whose position will ultimately decide the fate of dozens of families, whose fabric of life depends on the emerging decision.
Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, photo: Gideon Markovich
Prof. Lifshitz calls on the court to apply the principles that led it to protect the residents of Mishiah Jarah also towards the families from Mitzpe Kerim, and in his words: "The sacrifice of the basic judicial principles obliges the judges who are going to rule on the additional hearing in the Mitzpe Kerim case to demonstrate the extraordinary efforts and creativity that the majority judges took In the Sheikh Jarrah case, before they were ordered to evict families from their homes."
In my role as Minister of Justice, I had the privilege of leading the formation of the state's position before the Court of Justice on the issue of Mitzpe Caremi. It was not simple. Because despite mistakes made by some of the state officials who took care of the establishment of the settlement, the residents have the protection of the market regulation and there is no place to evict them.
Later, the matters were examined in depth in a lengthy proceeding, which took place before the District Court in Jerusalem and included the investigation of the person who served as General of the Central Command at the time the settlement was established - Moshe Bogi Ya'alon.
I was moved then to read his testimony in court and his willingness to confirm that it was he himself who led the families to establish the settlement in its current location, with the approval of the legal authorities, and that the families who moved there acted in complete good faith.
Later, as mentioned, the majority opinion in the Supreme Court overturned the judgment of the District Court, against the dissenting opinion of the Deputy President of the Real Estate, and now the matter is being discussed again in an expanded composition, which is going to give its decision soon.
I will not perish, I wait with eager anticipation for the verdict.
Odani still believes and hopes that the end of simple logic will last forever, as well as the fact that what applies to Arab residents will also apply to Jewish residents.
After all, behind him stands this time very patiently, even if quietly and secretly, the steadfast spirit of the residents of Mitzpe Karim.
were we wrong
We will fix it!
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