Yesh Din asks A-G to investigate Gallant, Smotrich over Homesh
An investigation should be opened into Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and top IDF brass over construction in the Homesh outpost, the NGO Yesh Din demanded in a Sunday letter to the Attorney-General’s Office.
Yesh Din said that new buildings had been erected at Homesh last Sunday night, against the opinions of the Judea and Samaria legal adviser, possibly on the orders of Gallant and Smotrich.
The work reportedly moved outpost structures to a patch of state land, where Gallant believes construction is legitimate. Homesh is built on private land belonging to people in the Palestinian village of Burqa, who coordinated with Yesh Din to send Sunday’s appeal.
“The ministers allegedly persuaded military commanders to commit crimes of breach of trust, aid in illegal building, violation of military orders, abuse of power, violation of duty,” and more, wrote Yesh Din. “The Chief of Staff and the central command head made a clear choice to obey the ministers and not the law.”
If the Attorney-General did not open an investigation into the ministers and officers, Yesh Din warned that it would demonstrate that there is no rule of law and that ministers were subject to different rules than citizens.
Yesh Din said that the Attorney-General
should instruct the military advocate-general to investigate the matter and coordinate with civilian investigators.
Homesh was built in 1978 but was evacuated in 2005 with the Israeli Disengagement from the Gaza Strip. The site has had limited Israeli presence since the withdrawal with the sporadic operation of the Homesh Yeshiva despite repeated evacuations.
Burqa residents have complained of military restrictions that prevent access to their private land at the site, which has resulted in Yesh Din and Palestinian residents filing multiple petitions to the High Court of Justice. While the High Court approved Palestinian access to the lands in 2013, Yesh Din has said that the site has seen clashes between Israelis and Burqa residents.
Along with the repealing of the Disengagement Law on March 21, the ban against the entry of Israelis into Homesh was lifted. Advocacy for the rebuilding of the outpost has seen renewed vigor, with hundreds celebrating at the Homesh Yeshiva on Israel’s Independence Day.