Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bureau is making it clear that Netanyahu and his staff have no intention of reneging on the commitment made to the evacuated residents of the Amona outpost. On Monday, Prime Minister's Office Chief of Staff Yoav Horowitz met with the chairman of the public campaign to save Amona, former resident Avichai Boaron, and told him the office is making every effort to find a solution acceptable to all sides involved. "We aren't going back on our promise," Horowitz told him. Meanwhile, the residents of the nine homes in the settlement of Ofra that are slated for demolition in March have petitioned the High Court of Justice to allow them to seal up the homes rather than raze them. The residents argue that the passing of the Judea and Samaria Settlement Regulation Law earlier this month marks a major change, and that if the law makes it through all the legal and constitutional scrutiny, they will have the option of regularizing the neighborhood in which their homes are located by compensating the Palestinian landowners. "The Judea and Samaria Settlement Regulation Law taking effect means a change to the legal situation in the Judea and Samaria areas," the petitioners wrote. The residents asked for a stay on the demolition of their homes, saying they had invested most of their money and lived in those homes for years, and demolition may turn out to be unnecessary given the legislative change. The High Court has given the state and the petitioners against the homes -- Palestinian landowners and the Yesh Din human rights group -- until 3 p.m. on Wednesday to respond. Meanwhile, Habayit Hayehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett on Monday addressed the matter of construction in Judea and Samaria following Netanyahu's meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump last week. Speaking in Jerusalem at the convention of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Bennett called America Israel's "best friend" and said that Israel should act as a friend does, by being clear about its national security interests, but coordinating with the American administration. Asked about the future of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan replied, "The Palestinians must understand that time is working against them, not in their favor, and they need to sit down and negotiate with us."
'We will not break our pledge to the residents of Amona'
PM's chief of staff meets with Amona campaign head and tells him the PM's office is making every effort to find a solution • Meanwhile, residents of nine Ofra homes slated to be razed ask for stay, say new regulation law may make demolition unnecessary.
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