Israeli settlement leaders withdrew a petition to the High Court of Justice this week, after the government pledged to enforce legislation limiting Palestine Liberation Organization activities in Jerusalem.
The Council of Jewish Settlements in Judea, Samaria and Gaza had called on the court to force the government to close down Orient House and six other Palestinian institutions in eastern Jerusalem.
The settlers’ group maintained that the institutions were acting as agencies of the Palestinian Authority in violation of both the self-rule accord between Israel and the Palestinians and a Knesset law banning such activities.
At the beginning of Wednesday’s hearing, a government official said Israel intends to enforce the Knesset law and has initiated steps in that direction since the law’s passage three months ago.
With this, the settlers withdrew their petition.
Meanwhile, Faisal Husseini, the top PLO official in Jerusalem, denied that any of the institutions are linked to the Palestinian Authority. He warned that closing down Orient House would end the peace process.
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