Settlement leaders in Judea and Samaria, among them Nahala movement heads Daniella Weiss and Zvi Elimelech Sharbaf, are considering establishing 10 new settlement outposts in various locations during US President Joe Biden's potential visit to Israel in July.
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The White House is said to be planning a broader trip to the Middle East next month, although Israeli officials expressed fears over the weekend that the American leader might decide to avoid coming to the Jewish state altogether in view of the precarious state of its governing coalition.
The planned settlement expansion, they said, is meant as retaliation for the delayed implementation of the so-called Evyatar agreement, approved by former Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit in February to spare the Samaria outpost of the same name, south of Nablus, from eviction, converting it into a hesder yeshiva.
Under the deal reached between Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, and settlement leaders with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's backing in late 2021, the 50 families residing at the site voluntarily left last summer. In exchange, the government promised not to demolish the outpost pending further review.
The agreement was slammed at the time by Arab lawmakers.
"We are weighing establishing 10 Evyatars at night, during Biden's visit," senior settlement officials told Israel Hayom.
Yossi Dagan, the head of the Samaria Regional Council, while declining to discuss specific protest plans, said that two weeks ago, during a visit by the Knesset's "Land of Israel" lobby to Evyatar, an agreement had been reached to "immediately establish a yeshiva after a land survey showed the outpost was built on state-owned lands, and ultimately, following the appeals stage, establish a permanent community. The survey was completed months ago and ever since we've been strung along. This behavior doesn't even meet the standards of this government. Let me say loud and clear, don't try us. This government will get the boot for violating the Evyatar agreement."
The threat to establish 10 settlement outposts in one night is a concern for Israeli officials. The IDF would struggle to remove them all within 24 hours and in turn embarrass the government. Such an initiative, in conjunction with public pressure not to demolish the new outposts, would likely undermine the coalition's stability even further.
The Nahala movement said it has already begun preparing settler groups and touring potential sites ahead of the planned settlement operation, which it said was slated to take place on July 20.
Public Security Minister Omer Barlev on Monday responded to the report, saying such an initiative would be akin to a "price tag attack against the State of Israel, not the government. Those who aim to embarrass the US president in such a manner – a great friend of ours who has contributed and continues to contribute a great deal to our security – during his visit here will cause serious damage to Israel. We are not in the [pre-state] days of tower and stockade, and messianic extortionist acts of this sort aren't just illegal and inflict heavy damage in the international arena, but will also impair the mission of the IDF and Israel Police to provide security, as they will be forced to divert forces and resources to contend with these outlaws."
As stated, Israel Hayom has learned that the Nahala movement was considering expediting the plan to coincide with Biden's potential visit.
"The government promised to declare Evyatar as [being built on] state-owned lands and to establish a yeshiva at Evyatar immediately upon completion of the land survey. The land survey was completed eight months ago and the government is not fulfilling its commitments. Following a joint meeting with everyone involved in the Evyatar agreement, a decision was made to launch a series of protest initiatives to demand that the agreement be implemented in full," an official from the Nahala movement told Israel Hayom.
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