A bill proposed by National Union leader Ya’acov Katz would require the
government to build new homes and infrastructure for residents of outposts and
settlements before they are demolished.
“I hope we just build and not
uproot Jews from their homes. Maybe [Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu] will
repent,” Katz told The Jerusalem Post.
The National Union leader added:
“Hopefully we won’t need this law following [former] justice Edmond Levy’s
report [on settlements], but in a situation where the media and the courts are
hostile, we need to make sure to minimize damages.”
“The Bill to Protect
Human Rights of Evacuees” seeks to make the government responsible for ensuring
the preservation of settlers’ “basic human rights and the fabric of their
lives.”
If peace talks or other arrangements require that outposts,
neighborhoods or whole settlements be demolished, the government would have to
provide equivalent homes and neighborhoods.
Among the government’s
responsibilities would be building schools, religious services and
infrastructure, including electricity, phone lines, water, sewage and
roads.
Anyone whose home was demolished must be given employment
opportunities with a salary similar to what he or she earned
previously.
Should the bill pass, evacuees who do not find work can
collect unemployment payments for up to 24 months.
In addition, the
Finance Ministry would be required to increase the Welfare and Social Services
Ministry’s budget to fund care for the evacuees.
The bill only applies to
structures that were built with approval from government ministries.
Katz
plans to submit the bill this week, in the hope that it will be brought to a
preliminary vote before the Knesset summer session ends on July 31. Lawmakers
from Shas and United Torah Judaism have co-signed the legislation, and Katz is
working to garner support from Likud, Kadima and Habayit Hayehudi MKs that
previously backed his outpost legislation.
Though the bill is not
expected to pass, sources in National Union said they plan to launch a public
battle over it similar to the lead-up to Katz’s failed Outpost Bill last month,
calling out right-wing MKs who do not promise their support.
“A residence
is not just the physical place in which a person lives, but the basis for his
life, around which his social life, employment and education is built,” the
bill’s explanatory portion states. “Though sometimes people must be removed from
their homes, it must be done in a way that ensures their basic
dignity.”
The legislation does not apply to someone who has committed a
crime, but the explanatory portion states that anyone who is evacuated because
of an agreement made by the government – “without referring to the validity of
such an agreement” – deserves expanded rights.