Teens clash with police during Netiv Ha’avot evacuation
Most families leave illegal outpost without any resistance, but Hilltop Youth climb on rooftops and pour paint and throw water bottles on police; forces begin carrying teens away one by one, 13 police officers wounded in clashes; 2 teens, 1 adult arrested for assaulting officer.
Teenagers standing on the house’s rooftop poured paint and threw stones and water bottles on the forces.
The police began carrying the youths away one by one. The outpost's residents asked the youths to come down from the rooftops, but they refused.
Bayit Yehudi MK Bezalel Smotrich and Amana director Ze'ev Hever were also at the entrance to the house.
By the end of the evacuation, two teenagers and a young man were arrested for assaulting a police officer, while dozens of other teens were barred from the area.
Thirteen police officers were wounded during the evacuation. One was in moderate condition and the others were lightly hurt.
Meanwhile, dozens of people blocked the entrance to Jerusalem and burned tires in protest of the Netiv Ha'avot evacuation. Three protestors were detained.
Some 40 protestors held signs reading, “Build without evacuating,” and chanted: “The Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people."
On Tuesday morning, thousands of police officers were deployed in several circles at Netiv Ha’avot ahead of the evacuation of 15 families from the outpost.
About 1,000 teenagers gathered at the outpost ahead of the evacuation, which began at 9 am. Dozens of them clashed with Border Police forces.
Several youths climbed to the roof of one of the houses and refused to come down despite the residents’ repeated requests. Police detained two of the protestors.
The evacuation then continued without any significant resistance, as the evictees walked out of their homes in tears.
Earlier, youths set fire to tires and garbage cans at the outpost and began shoving the police, chanting “Soldier, policeman, refuse orders.”
In response, the Border Police isolated the teens and encircled them. Dozens of police officers were provided with special documentation equipment to document rioters.
The police issued a statement saying, “The dialogue with the residents and the local leadership is ongoing to prevent friction and unnecessary clashes and allow a proper execution of the mission the forces have been tasked with.
“The police expect the residents’ families, which are a law-abiding public, to keep showing responsibility and work to restrain non-local elements and not to allow any violence against police officers and innocent people under any circumstances.
“The police call on the leadership to keep showing responsibility and high involvement to facilitate the proper implementation of the court order.”
Most of the protest was expected to center around two homes. The High Court of Justice ruled that the homes had been built illegally, some on unregulated lands, following a petition filed by the Peace Now movement.
Netiv Ha’avot residents say not a single Palestinian has been able to prove his ownership of the land so far. Peace Now, however, says the petition includes names of Palestinian petitioners who claim to own the land.
After dozen of High Court petitions and discussions, the evacuation of the outpost’s 15 families was scheduled for Tuesday. The families were to move temporarily to a plot prepared for them.
Netiv Ha’avot resident Orit Noy told Ynet: “The stupidity here is incomprehensible. Anyone who came here in the past two years said it was the most stupid thing that could happen. Not a single person, neither from the Left nor from the Right, understands why this is happening.
“All ministers and Knesset members are saying that this is a foolish ruling. It’s unbelievable that no one is able to stop this. They’re going to destroy out home and there will be nothing here. No one will come here. In two years, God willing, we’ll return and rebuild our home here.”
Thousands of people, including Ministers Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked, attended a protest rally at Netiv Ha’avot on Monday evening.
“Whoever wanted to destroy 15 homes will received, God willing, 350 homes on this hill,” Education Minister Bennett said. “The residents of the Netiv Ha’avot neighborhood and everyone who cares about the settlement enterprise in this country, can’t understand. There is no other word apart from absurdity."
“One of the girls asked me why,” the Bayit Yehudi leader added. “I didn’t know how to answer. There is no answer, no reason and no logic. Sometimes, the High Court is very active on human rights, but when it comes to the rights of the residents here, the court suddenly becomes passive.”
Justice Minister Shaked said, “The evacuation is the result of a serious mistake. It began with an erroneous response from the state several years ago, but that was fixed from the root, and ended with an erroneous High Court decision. The news is that it ends here. In the past three years, we have changed the discourse. Instead of asking, ‘When are we evacuating?’ we’re asking, ‘How do we regulate?’”
The families will live in the alternative plot for two years and hope that the evacuated outpost area will be regulated.
