Danon urges PM to intervene and save Migron outpost

MKs Uri Ariel, Danon report that talks to prevent demolition broke down over conditions under which homes in the West Bank outpost would be relocated; Danon accuses "extreme left-wing elements" of pressuring gov't.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, TOVAH LAZAROFF
Migron outpost aerial_311 (photo credit: Baz Ratner / Reuters)
Migron outpost aerial_311
(photo credit: Baz Ratner / Reuters)
Likud MK Danny Danon on Monday called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to intervene and save the Migron outpost in the West Bank after negotiations to prevent the demolition of the outpost apparently broken down.
Likud Minister Benny Begin was scheduled to hold a press conference on the issue after Danon and National Union MK Uri Ariel said Sunday evening that talks broke down over the conditions under which the homes would be relocated.
The High Court of Justice had ordered the state to demolish the Migron outpost, which is home to 50 families, by the end of March. It ruled that the homes, most of which are modular, were constructed without the necessary permits on land classified by the state as belonging to Palestinians.
To avert a forced demolition of the outpost, the state has looked to find a compromise by which the outpost would be relocated two kilometers away to state land near the Psagot winery on the same hilltop in the Binyamin region, where Migron is now located.
Danon said Sunday that the state insisted that the outpost must be relocated within two-and-a-half years, irrespective of whether new homes have been built for the Migron residents.
Ariel added that the state balked at accepting a condition by the settlers that the status of the land be adjudicated first, before the homes are destroyed.
On Monday, Danon called on Netanyahu to take control of the issue personally "before it is too late."
"We must not allow clerks to prevent us from fulfilling the principles we were elected to enact and stop us from building and developing the settlement in Judea and Samaria," Danon stated.
Danon accused "extremist left-wing elements" of pressuring the government to reject a compromise to prevent the demolition of Migron.
The Knesset Lobby for the Land of Israel, which is led by coalition chairman MK Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) and MK Arye Eldad (National Union), called on the government to stand by its promise to the Migron settlers.