The left-wing organization appealed to the attorney general: "Relocating the Homesh meeting is illegal – open a criminal investigation" | Israel Hayom

The left-wing Yesh Din organization, together with residents of the village of Burqah, wrote to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, demanding that a criminal investigation be opened against Defense Minister Yoav Galant, Defense Ministry Minister Bezalel Smotrich, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy and a number of other officers who, they claim, committed criminal offenses in connection with the illegal work in Homesh.

Last week, Samaria moved the yeshiva established there about 15 years ago, on land defined as private Palestinian, to state land. A building was erected in a plaza that was prepared for this purpose, and development work is also currently being carried out on the site. The immigration, it should be noted, was made irregularly and without the approval of the Civil Administration, and is therefore illegal, despite the fact that it is done explicitly in accordance with the plan that began with the repeal of the Disengagement Law in northern Samaria about two months ago, and according to statements by senior officials.

The organization contacted the Attorney General. Gali Baharav-Miara, Photo: Gideon Markowitz

Yesh Din, which petitioned the High Court of Justice against the yeshiva, which they claim is located on private land belonging to Burqah Palestinians whom they represent, has now petitioned the attorney general, through their lawyers, Michael Sfard and Shlomi Zakaria, demanding an investigation of senior government and defense officials.

"The rule of rulers, not the rule of law"

According to them, according to reports, the military received legal advice from the Judea and Samaria attorney general that the work carried out was illegal and should be stopped, but at the same time Ministers Galant and Smotrich were instructed to allow them to be carried out. The OC and Central Command officials were aware that the order of the political echelon was illegal (not to mention manifestly illegal), and therefore requested written instructions.

"In their actions, the ministers allegedly solicited military commanders to commit offenses of breach of trust, assistance in illegal construction, solicitation of violation of military orders (which the military commander himself ordered, under their instructions!), abuse of office power, breach of statutory duty, misconduct, exceeding authority, and more. In their actions, the senior military officers committed all of the above offenses," Yesh Din's lawyers claim.

Adv. Michael Sfard, representing Yesh Din, photo: Dudi Vaknin

"Nor have we encountered an incident that implies a demonstrative, deliberate and direct crushing of the idea of the rule of law. In their instructions to the military commanders, the ministers made it clear that their concept of governance is the rule of the rulers, not the rule of law. The chief of staff and the head of the Central Command made it clear in their choice to obey the ministers and not the law that they accept the dictatorial constitutional concept and reject the concept of the rule of law as also applicable to governors and legislators."

"In light of all the above," Yesh Din concluded in their letter, "we demand that it be my turn to open a criminal investigation that will encompass both the illegal construction and especially the military's conscious refusal to stop it, and of course the involvement of the ministers in soliciting the army to commit offenses. Any other decision on your part will be a clear statement: Ministers are not subject to the law. There is one law for subjects and another for ministers."

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