JERUSALEM (JTA) — A proposal to begin legalizing the West Bank outpost of Netiv Haavot was approved by Israel’s Cabinet.
More than a dozen homes on the outpost, located 11 miles south of Jerusalem in the Etzion bloc, are scheduled to be demolished next week.
The Cabinet approval on Sunday includes funds for the outpost, some earmarked for building a temporary neighborhood for the 15 families whose homes are scheduled to be razed. It also includes a building plan for the construction of 350 new housing units at the outpost.
The government has asked the Supreme Court to delay the March 6 demolition by three months to allow temporary housing to be constructed.
“The residents of Netiv Ha’avot have been waiting for a long time for this,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting.
Hundreds of settler youth are expected to flood the settlement to try to prevent the demolition.
