September 30, 2009

The Supreme Court has ordered the Israeli government to dismantle and reroute 6.6 kilometers of the Separation Fence east of Netanya. The ruling followed a petition by flagship NIF grantee Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and residents of the West Bank Palestinian villages Far’oun, Jabara, Jayyus and Falamieh.

A locked gate in the Security Fence in the stretch that must now be rerouted.

The ruling repeats a 2007 decision by the Supreme Court that this section of the Fence must be rerouted because it is designed with the expansion of the nearby Jewish West Bank settlements of Salit and Tzufin in mind, rather than Israel’s security. Since then, the government has stalled in fulfilling the court order, claiming it is examining potential alternative routes.

However, in this latest ruling the Supreme Court also ordered the government to rebuild the barrier on a new route proposed by former NIF grantee Council for Peace and Security, which is made up of former senior Israeli Defense Force officers with extensive operational experience in the West Bank. The new route is along the original route planned by the Israeli government, and will return 1,500 acres of highly fertile land, including many wells, to Palestinian farmers.

The Court also ruled that until the revised route is completed, the gate near the village of Jabara will remain permanently open to provide villagers with access to their fields.

This is the latest of many court rulings won by the NIF family ordering the government to reroute sections of the fence not yet built, or to dismantle and revise the route of stretches that have been completed.