Residents and supporters of Amona have set up a protest tent next to the Prime Minister’s Office under the banner “Amona will not fall a second time!”

Aware the end of year deadline given by the High Court of Justice to eradicate the community is approaching, the residents explain they are preparing for an unprecedented battle, vowing the yishuv in the Shomron will not be evacuated a second time.

They explain they learned from the struggles to save Beit El’s Ulpana neighborhood and Yishuv Migron, both failing. As a result, this time around they plan to “use all means at our disposal”, determined to prevent the government from removing Amona for a second time.

The original Amona was destroyed after violent confrontations between residents and supporters and police, in 2006. It was a bloody confrontation with police, as mounted units literally ran people over without mercy.

The Bayit Yehudi party, which has 8 seats, has announced numerous times that if the coalition tries to remove any community in Yehuda and Shomron, it will bring down the coalition without hesitation. Amona activists insist if the government tries to remove them with force, the response will topple the administration.

In the interim, as the December 25, 2016 deadline for demolition moving closer by the day, cabinet ministers including Ze’ev Elkin of Likud have spoken out openly in opposition to removing the community, insisting the cabinet and coalition can and must find a way to circumvent the High Court order.

Amona is currently home to about forty families. Joining the call to prevent the demolition of the community are Likud MKs Miki Zohar and Yehuda Glick, both insisting the government must not expel Jews from their homes as was done in Gaza in 2005.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)