Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit criticized government ministers on Monday evening for their efforts to pass the so-called " regulations bill " which would legalize Israeli outposts in the West Bank including Amona, which is set to be evacuated in December

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“I share the idea that a country struggling against terrorism is required to operate within the law,” Mandelblit said. “This is also true of other legal issues such as the attempt to arrange settlement construction.”

Avichai Mandelblit (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

Mandelblit said that while he endeavors to assist the government in implementing its policies and in finding legal solutions to complex problems including sometimes preventing the evacuation of homes which were planned under state authority and which had been in existence for years, “these solutions will always be on the border of the law.”

Indeed, Mandelblit had already stated last week, prior to the Regulations Bill vote in the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, that the bill was legally untenable.

“There can be no legislating if it is harmful to the High Court of Justice. When the High Court of Justice rules that the state is required to demolish illegal homes, it is for the state to carry out the ruling as is stipulated,” he noted.

“It is the responsibility of the state to respect the ruling of the High Court. It is easy to accept a ruling that is consistent with our position but we need to accept the ruling of the court even when it isn’t consistent with our positions,” he continued.

Shortly before speaking, Amona residents called an emergency gathering during which they appealed directly to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to defy the ruling.