JERUSALEM (JTA) — Residents of Migron have signed an agreement with the Israeli government on relocating the illegal West Bank outpost.
The agreement signed Sunday will allow the outpost’s approximately 50 families to move to a nearby hill over the next three years, meaning that they will not be evicted as ordered by Israel’s Supreme Court. The current site will be turned over to the Civil Administration, which has agreed to consider public uses.
Migron, which is approximately 14 miles north of Jerusalem, had been slated under an Israeli Supreme Court order in 2011 to be razed by the end of this month. The state will ask the court to cancel its order.
In a statement, the residents said they signed the agreement "with a heavy heart, but out of responsibility to the nation in fulfillment of the High Court’s order to vacate the current site, and out of a desire to avoid confrontations and difficult scenes."
"We do this even though we do not believe it is necessary, since Arab ownership of the current site has not been proven, and even though the residents of Migron were not given sufficient opportunity to prove their rights in civil court,” the statement said.
Minister Benny Begin brokered the negotiations between the government and residents.
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