Israel’s Supreme Court Allows Arab Squatters To Stay In Nahalat Shimon Homes, Pay Minimal Rent

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Israel’s Supreme Court voted by a 2-1 majority to overturn a lower court decision to evict Arab residents of Nahalat Shimon. The court partially accepted the appeal of the Arab families and said that they would be allowed to continue living in the properties in exchange for the payment of reduced rents until  land settlement procedures have been completed and the rights of the land are finally decided.

Justices Yitzhak Amit and Dafna Barak-Erez ruled in favor of the petitioners, stating that they would pay the Jewish owners of the properties 200 NIS ($60) per month. Judge Noam Solberg ruled that the petition should be rejected.

Lach Yerushalayim chairman Maor Tzemach and Im Tirtzu chairman Matan Peleg said in response to the court’s decision: “Once again, the Supreme Court ruled against the Jewish state. The Supreme Court decision to allow families of the invading Arabs in the Shimon HaTzadik neighborhood to continue to live in the properties they looted. This is not just a surrender to terrorism but siding with the enemy. The decision serves the terrorist organizations and helps them to de facto occupy territories from the State of Israel.”

According to the two, “this is a serious mistake and harms the soul of the State of Israel, which begs to be run as a proper state, to be a state that can enforce the law and stand by its own. This cannot happen when Supreme Court judges make such disgraceful decisions.   The unrestrained power of the Supreme Court must be balanced, otherwise the State of Israel will not be able to continue to exist. Not as a Jewish state, not as a democratic state and not as a state at all.”

MK Itamar Ben-Gvir said that “the Supreme Court decision to change the law and claim in the name of hooligans who took control of properties and then to exempt them and leave them in the same place is an illegal, dark and undemocratic decision. It violates the rule of law and sets a dangerous precedent which benefits the intruders. I hope that the owners will demand another hearing with a broader forum. We cannot give up on Shimon Hatzadik.”