The news about the group in Oregon who busted into Federal lands and claim it’s theirs’ under some obscure interpretation of the law is well known, as is the muted response of the Feds – whether it’s the proper countermove will be judged by history.
But I found interesting this piece from AL Monitor‘s Ben Caspit of Israeli politician Moshe Ya’alon, current Defense Minister, in particular his response to the actions of certain fringe-right wing settlers:
A new climax has been reached in the current crisis. A group of settlers, including branch leaders and other major figures in the Likud Party, purchased two buildings in Hebron. They entered these buildings under cover of darkness and left two new “facts on the ground.” This is how the settlers regularly operate; they follow a familiar “model” of secretly purchasing property, taking it over by surprise and then conducting negotiations with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which ultimately controls the West Bank, as to whether they can stay there or not.
Mentioned later is the fact that while the purchase is legal, it may be not be “settled” without the IDF’s permission.
Usually an operation involving the evacuation of homes such as this can last weeks, if not months or years. It gets dragged out in the courts, while the validity of the purchase is investigated and it is ascertained whether the owners really made a sale. Discussions ensue over security issues and how the incident impacts Israel’s diplomatic standing. This time, however, Ya’alon decided that it was enough. He heard about the occupation of the homes in real time while conducting his regular assessment of the situation with the IDF’s top brass at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. He then ordered that the settlers be removed, without any delays whatsoever.
They had not expected that. On the night of Jan. 21-22, the IDF forcibly removed the settlers from both homes. The coalition immediately erupted in turmoil, with attacks against Ya’alon launched not only by Bennett’s HaBayit HaYehudi Party, but even by many people from Ya’alon’s own Likud Party (as described by Mazal Mualem). But Ya’alon wasn’t taken aback. He received partial support from Netanyahu, though a day late. Still, Ya’alon stuck to his principles, and he refused to blink.
I have no intention of suggesting the situations are so similar that we should do the same thing. But it’s interesting and instructive that immediate, decisive actions were taken and were a surprise to the perpetrators who have so little respect for the law.
