Amid the worst Arab violence in Jerusalem in years, the Supreme Court on Sunday postponed a hearing on the eviction of four Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah section of Jerusalem at the request of Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit.

Following a request by the families for Mandelblit to become a party to the case, Mandelblit asked the Supreme Court for two weeks to evaluate the issue.

News reports also said that Mandelblit’s legal submission to the court included a sealed affidavit with recommendations from the National Security Council, Israel Defense Forces, Shin Bet and Israel Police against holding the hearing on Monday over concerns it will fuel the ongoing tensions and violence in Jerusalem.

“This case awakes sensitivities on other issues, and as such, the attorney general will ask to present to the court an ex parte affidavit from relevant policymakers and professionals in a sealed envelope,” Mandelblit’s office told the Supreme Court.

About 70 Arabs are scheduled to be evicted from Sheikh Jarrah in the coming weeks after Israeli courts ruled that the land was owned by Jewish associations prior to 1948.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has termed the conflict over Sheikh Jarrah (Shimon HaTzaddik) as a “real-estate dispute between private parties.”

The riots and violence in Jerusalem continued to intensify on Sunday and Monday and spread to other areas of the country, including Haifa, Natzeret and other Arab towns in the north.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)