Free Republic

(Courtesy) The small illegal West Bank outpost of Sde Yonatan was evacuated and demolished Tuesday morning by Border Police and Civil Administration forces, the second such demolition of an illegal outpost in the territory in less than 48 hours. Sde Yonatan, which lies close to the settlement of Michmash northeast of Jerusalem, has been built and demolished several times in the last two years and was most recently reestablished shortly after the beginning of the current war with Hamas. According to the Civil Administration, the outpost is built on private Palestinian land. At least 22 Border Police officers and Civil...

It was disclosed Thursday afternoon that the soldier killed in the morning's terrorist attack at the entrance to Ofra was 20-year-old Sergeant Elhai Taharlev of the western-Binyamin Jewish community of Talmon. Elhai Taharlev studied at the Mekor Chaim High School in Kfar Etzion and later at the hesder yeshiva in Tekoa....

Video The evacuation of nine houses in the Givat Tzvi neighborhood of Ofra commenced just after 9:00 a.m. Tuesday morning, after Border Police officers sealed off access to the homes slated for demolition. Hundreds of demonstrators faced off against security forces deployed to the town, with some protesters barricading themselves inside houses facing demolition. Prior to the evacuation, more than 100 Border Police officers deployed around the nine homes slated for demolition in Ofra. Officers blocked off access to the Givat Tzvi neighborhood, isolating the area ahead of the evacuation. In addition, security forces surrounded each of the nine homes...

Avi Roeh, the head of the Binyamin Regional Council, has told employees that police are likely to open an investigation against him in the near future, regarding a sewage treatment plant built in the town of Ofra, north of Jerusalem. Roeh is accused of violating a Civil Administration stop-work order in order to complete the plant despite a complaint by a far-left group that it was built on private Arab land. In an interview with Arutz Sheva, Roeh admitted to the accusations against him, but argued that his decision had been the moral thing to do. “There are people living...

Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilnai (Independence) addressed in a letter on Wednesday MK Yaakov “Ketzaleh” Katz’s (National Union) demand to determine the legal status of 13 Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, with an emphasis on finally providing zoning plans for these commuinities. In the letter, Vilnai addressed the situation in the community of Ofra, saying, “A significant part of the community of Ofra is built on private Palestinian land” and adding that as a result “the community does not have an approved jurisdiction.” Vilnai further explained that despite the opinions that were presented to him on the issue,...

Olmert hints at pullout of Shilo, Beit El, Ofra, Kedumim Amir Mizroch, THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 22, 2006 Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday hinted that the settlements of Shilo, Beit El, Ofra and Kedumim would be evacuated under his unilateral withdrawal plan, and said that many other settlements in the West Bank would be also be evacuated. "Shilo, Beit El, Ofra and Kedumim were always part of the historical Land of Israel, and they always emotionally will be," Olmert said in a conversation with Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel at the Petra Nobel Laureates Conference in Jordan. "We, Israelis, Jews,...