A petition requesting that the government tear down the Comesh Yeshiva in Samaria was dismissed on Wednesday by the Israeli Supreme Court, which is also known as the High Court of Justice.
Esther Hayut, president of the Supreme Court, and justices Uzi Vogelman and Yael Willner highlighted in their ruling that the yeshiva structures had just been moved from Palestinian-claimed ground to state land, making the legal claims irrelevant.
The petitioners were consequently forced to pay court fees in the amount of 15,000 shekels, or roughly $4,000 USD.
When he unilaterally began the disengagement from Gaza in 2005, then-prime minister Ariel Sharon destroyed four Jewish settlements in northern Samaria.
Articles of the 2005 law prohibiting Israelis from accessing and dwelling in the four Samaria settlements were overturned by the Knesset six months ago, and IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fuchs signed an order permitting Israelis to reenter Chomesh in May.
Soon after, volunteers and yeshiva students relocated the institution to a new, permanent site several hundred meters away from the disputed territory.
The Yesh Din group, which advocates for the local Palestinians, criticized the “disgraceful” Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday, claiming that it effectively permits the reestablishment of Chomesh and attests to what it called “apartheid rule” in Judea and Samaria.
However, Wednesday’s decision was applauded by Israeli leaders. The finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, declared that “this is a significant day for Chomesh.
The Israeli government has suspended the Disengagement Law in northern Samaria and is controlling Jewish habitation in and control over Chomesh, he continued.
For their collaborative efforts on behalf of Chomesh and the people [of Judea and Samaria], I would like to thank Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the Settlement Authority.
“The delusional petition of the extreme left against Chomesh was thrown into the dustbin of history—the future belongs to the return and rebuilding of the communities of northern Samaria,” said Yossi Dagan, the head of the Samaria Regional Council, to Hebrew media.
“The Chomesh Yeshiva will flourish, the community of Chomesh will flourish, and the light will continue to illuminate all of northern Samaria,” the Chomesh Yeshiva administration declared in a statement.
Now the Israeli government is in charge, and it should follow through on its promise: regulating [the entire community of] Chomesh.”
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