Schlaglicht Israel Nr. 10/12 Aktuelles aus israelischen Tageszeitungen 1. Juni – 15. Juni 2012 1. Ulpana-Debatte Das Oberste Gericht hatte den Abbruch von fünf Wohnhäusern in der Nachbarschaft Ulpana in der Westbank-Siedlung Beit El angeordnet, weil diese illegal auf Land gebaut worden seien, das einem Palästinenser gehöre. Daraufhin hatten einige Parteien der Regierungskoalition einen Gesetz­entwurf der Partei Habayit Hayehud(„Jewish Home“) unterstützt, der den Abbruch der Häuser durch nachtragliche Legalisierung verhindern sollte. Der Gesetzentwurf(„Settlement Regulation Bill“) beinhaltet, dass jeder Besitzer von Land in der Westbank das Recht verliert, nach dem Verstreichen eines Zeitraums von vier Jahren noch gegen Bauvorhaben auf dem jeweils betroffenen Stück Land vorzugehen. Premier Netanyahu positionierte sich gegen das Gesetz und drohte Mitgliedern seines Kabinetts sogar mit deren Entlassung, wenn sie dem Gesetz in der Knesset zustimmen sollten. Gleichzeitig kündigte Netanyahu an, die Ulpana­Wohnhäuser in den Bereich einer militärischen Zone in Beit El versetzen zu wollen,. The Ulpana saga „Like the dozens of MKs who have come to their defense, we cannot help but feel sympathy for the Ulpana residents.(…) Under different circumstances, a compromise could have been reached. The most equitable solution would have been to handsomely compensate the Palestinian landowner, providing him with an alternative plot of land on which he could actually build. But agreeing to reach such a compromise would immediately label the Palestinian a traitor in the eyes of his fellow Palestinians. Instead, he must insist on taking possession of land so close to Beit El that he will be unable to use it.(…) retroactively“koshering” outposts like the Ulpana neighborhood is not the answer. True, in principle the government has the right to expropriate land in the State of Israel. But it also has an obligation to protect individual property rights.(…) Some of the most talented, best educated, most patriotic Israeli citizens established settlements in Judea and Samaria in the fast four­and-a-half decades. And it is only natural that our lawmakers have a desire to protect the Jewish settlements. But passing the outpost law will only spark yet another conflict between the Supreme Court and the Knesset and pit liberal- minded Israelis against their more nationalist brethren. Israel will be subjected to international condemnation and a renewed effort will be launched to delegitimize the entire settlement project.“If you grab too much,” says a Talmudic adage,“you risk losing it all.” JPO, Editorial, 3.6.2012 Time to take a stand „A bloody debate has raged in present-day Israel between proponents of the settlement enterprise and its opponents, but the current government is nearly unanimous on the issue. So how is it that a conservative government, led by Likud, is once again uprooting communities? Let us recall that the Likud already fell apart once, to the joy of the media and the Left, and gave birth to Kadima, a political mutation that facilitated the destruction of the Jewish communities in Gaza and brought two pointless wars upon us. Without realizing it, we have grown accustomed to the demolition of Jewish homes, here a house, there a street, and finally an entire enterprise. Remember Gush Katif? That cannot be allowed to happen again. There are moments in history when a certain act deviates far beyond its physical bounds. It is not five buildings that are going to be demolished in the Ulpana neighborhood. What will ultimately be destroyed is the very principle of standing up to protect our simple, natural right – which has been upheld by the Law of Nations, by morality and by history – to settle our 1