GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon on Sunday signed an order authorizing the Bruchin settlement as part of the Samaria Regional Council. Alon's signature is the final step in the legalization of the settlement, which was declared an unauthorized outpost in the 2004 Sasson Report on illegal outposts, since it lacked the defense minister's signature on its building plan. The legalization of Bruchin follows a series of legal appeals by left-wing organizations demanding the evacuation of a number of settlements, including Bruchin. Around 100 families live in Bruchin, which was established by the Israeli government in the late 1990s. In April, the Prime Minister's Office announced that three outposts, Bruchin, Sansana and Rechelim, would be retroactively legalized. The Israeli government said of its decision said that it was "formalizing the status" of the settlements in Judea and Samaria. Construction and development in Bruchin have been halted since the publication of the Sasson Report. Alon's signature means that the settlement officially joins the Samaria Regional Council, becoming the 31st settlement in the district. "This is a victory for common sense over politics and the maliciousness of the leftist, anti-Zionist school of thought," said council head Gershon Masika. "The prime minister has ended years of injustice that seriously and unnecessarily harmed the residents of the settlement."
