Security forces demolished three illegal modular dormitories on the West Bank’s Homesh hilltop but left most of the yeshiva situated there intact during an early morning raid on Wednesday.
Two bathrooms and four tents were also removed by the IDF and Border Police, according to a spokesperson from the Samaria Regional Council. The yeshiva students were allowed to remain on the northern Samaria hilltop, located between Nablus and Jenin.
The fate of the hilltop sparked an intense political debate on Wednesday.
“The evacuation government continues its campaign of destroying settlements,” charged Likud MK Yuli Edelstein on Twitter. “This government, which was built on lies, continues to lie and break its promises. It lies and evacuates, evacuates and lies. In the end, he predicted, “Homesh will not fall. When we return to power, it and the rest of the settlements will flourish.”
Deputy Economy Minister Yair Golan (Meretz) took precisely the opposite stance, telling KAN News that “accounts had to be settled with the extreme nationalists” like the ones on the Homesh hilltop.
Nationalist extremists are creating a provocation, dragging the security forces into it and causing harm to innocents, he said, adding that these are the kinds of extremists who in the end are responsible for political violence.
These lawbreakers, such as those on Homesh, should not be allowed to do as they will, he said, noting that there were no innocents on the hilltop.
For the Right, however, the battle for Homesh is part of its emotional campaign to ensure that Israel maintains its hold over Judea and Samaria.
The December terror attack that claimed the life of 25-year-old Yehudah Dimentman as he left Homesh has added an additional layer of complexity to the situation. His family has asked the government to authorize the yeshiva in honor of his memory.
In a statement to the High Court of Justice this month, the state said that the upper echelon had approved the demolition of the yeshiva, but that the matter was up to Defense Minister Benny Gantz. It did not set a date for such an evacuation.
Security forces have moved against construction that has been done at Homesh in the aftermath of Dimentman’s murder, but this is the first time they have taken down illegal construction put up prior to his killing.
The Homesh Yeshiva fears that the military plans to oust them from the hilltop, where they have been illegally situated for 15 years.
The Right had pressured the state that there was a tacit understanding that such modular building, much like the yeshiva itself, would remain unless the seminary was razed.
“This government is rewarding terrorism, instead of deterring the terrorists,” said Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan. “It is giving them what they wanted: the destruction of a Jewish settlement. A government that acts this way must be removed. The people of Israel will replace this government. The people of Israel will rebuild Homesh and its yeshiva.”
The IDF initially seized the land on the Homesh hilltop from the Palestinian village of Burka for military purposes, but then redirected it for civilian use.
A settlement built there in 1980 was destroyed by the IDF in 2005 as part of the Disengagement plan, which saw Israel evacuate 21 Gaza settlements and four in northern Samaria.
As a protest move, the Homesh Yeshiva, which originally opened its doors in 2002, began illegally holding classes at the site in modular buildings after the community’s destruction.
The Right and the settlement moment have said that the demolition of the yeshiva would be akin to a second disengagement.
The High Court, however, has already ruled that Palestinians have a right to access their land there.
Homesh yeshiva students, their wives and children held a small demonstration on Wednesday night outside the home of Knesset House Committee Chairman Nir Orbach (Yamina), who said last week that the seminary would not be destroyed.
“We came here because last week you promised Homesh would not be destroyed, and this morning we woke before dawn to the sight of hundreds of police who came for what: to raze a couple of dorms and bathrooms?” said Nir, one of the protesters, speaking into a microphone. “Is that what was important to you? You lied to us. We will continue to fight for Homesh.”