Leftists sue to block construction of Amona replacement town - INN

Just days after construction of Amichai began in Samaria, left-wing NGO goes to court to block new town's establishment.

David Rosenberg, of INN

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A far-left NGO has turned to the Israeli Supreme Court to block the construction of a new town in Samaria – Amichai – to replace Amona, following its evacuation and demolition in February.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced on his Facebook page that work had finally begun on Amichai – half a year after the government agreed to build the replacement town for evacuated Amona residents.

“Today, work has begun on the ground, as I promised, for the establishment of a new town for the residents of Amona. I have the merit of being the Prime Minister to build the first new town in Judea and Samaria after decades [of no new towns being authorized].”

Amichai, which is being built in the Shiloh bloc in Samaria, will house the 42 families evacuated from Amona on February 1st.

Earlier this month, the Civil Administration authorized the new town, making Amichai the first new officially sanctioned Jewish town in Judea and Samaria in a quarter century, since the Rabin government imposed a freeze on new towns in 1992.

But on Thursday, the radical left-wing Yesh Din organization filed an urgent appeal with the Supreme Court, calling for work on Amichai to be suspended, NRG reported.

According to the Yesh Din appeal, the Civil Administration’s authorization of the new town must be nullified, since it allegedly includes a small area of privately-owned Arab land.

The town council of the Arab village of Jalud, located near the Shiloh bloc, is also listed in the appeal.