Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran harshly criticized the state on Thursday, after it asked the High Court of Justice to accept the Migron deal and agree to delay the demolition of the settlement outpost by three and a half years.

“What will the rule of law look like when ruling is not followed?” asked Joubran in relation to the original High Court ruling on Migron that called for the demolition of the outpost by the end of March. “You, the State Attorney, say that the outpost in three years, but I know this type of behavior. Three years will inevitably turn into eight.”

On Thursday morning, the court began hearing the state’s request to postpone the demolition for three and a half years to allow the settlers to rebuild their homes on Hayekev Hill, which will then become part of the settlement of Kochav Yaakov. The state gave the court Schwartz’s opinion approving the compromise to support its stand.

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But even if the court is willing to entertain the compromise, the state must still convince the justices that it can be implemented.

On Wednesday, it was revealed that the Interior Ministry’s planning director was initially opposed to a compromise over the West Bank outpost of Migron, but changed her mind due to government pressure, documents presented to the High Court of Justice on Wednesday show.

The documents show that planning director Binat Schwartz, whose job includes advising the government on planning issues, initially objected to the idea of relocating Migron to a site a few kilometers away, but approved the plan about a week later.

For more, go to Haaretz.com

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