Israel’s top court delays settler evacuation until after Jewish farming sabbatical

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The High Court of Justice on Sunday agreed to postpone the eviction of settlers cultivating land in the Shiloh Valley in the West Bank until after the sabbatical year.

Justices Esther Hayut, Daphne Barak-Erez and Ofer Grosskopf accepted the request of Defense Minister Benny Gantz after he came to an agreement with the settlers that they would evacuate the area, which covers 170 dunams (about 62 acres) and receive alternative land.

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Every seven years, Jewish law prohibits agricultural labor in the Land of Israel for a one year. The current sabbatical, or shmita year, began on September 6 (Rosh Hashana), and will end September 25, 2022.

The justices said they made their ruling but were “uncomfortable with the timing of the request,” referring to the fact that it was submitted after the shmita year had already begun and warned that no further extensions would be granted. The court also prohibited the settlers from working the land, “except for essential agricultural work to preserve the existing situation.”

Olive grove in Meshek Achiya, one of the largest West Bank settlement farmsMoti Milrod

In May, the High Court ordered the Civil Administration to clear the farm, known as Meshek Achiya, one of the largest West Bank settlement farms, after the court partially accepted a petition submitted by eight Palestinians who claimed to be the heirs of the landowners.

Gantz explained to the court that he had submitted the request because of the ban observed by religious Jews on working the land and planting seedlings during the shmita year. Under the agreement with Meshek Achiya, the settlers have pledged to leave the land voluntarily in exchange for other land within Israel’s sovereign borders, and to move the olive trees planted there to the new site and prepare the land at their own expense. Gantz lobbied for the agreement, which was approved by Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit and the defense establishment.

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The eviction had been originally scheduled to be carried out by October and will now be postponed until February 2023 – four months after the end of the sabbatical year ends. The further delay in the eviction, the court was told, is “in keeping with the restrictions of Jewish law in the shmita year, the time required to allocate the [new] land and the time required to prepare the alternative land, “which can begin only after the end of the shmita year.”

David Zitzer, the CEO of Meshek Achiya, said in response: “I’m happy that the defense minister and his staff, as well as the prime minister’s bureau, prevented needless scenes of uprooting on the eve of Rosh Hashanah and arrived at a plan that includes alternative land and an organized move, and now the High Court has also reached this conclusion.”