Charges dropped against West Bank settlers after disengagement repeal

Charges against Homesh yeshiva rabbis and students for illegally staying in the outpost were dropped on Wednesday due to the repeal of the Disengagement Law, right-wing legal aid organization Honenu announced.

The state requested the Petah Tikva District Court to drop indictments against Rabbi Elishama Cohen and his colleagues and students because the basis for their offenses, the 2005 Disengagement Law, was repealed on March 21.

Cohen and other members of his yeshiva had been charged in November for entering and staying without permit in Homesh, a restricted area since the settler outpost's 2005 evacuation.

The yeshiva predates the outpost

The yeshiva, which predated the outpost, had continued to operate from the site for years though it was illegal to do so. Cohen had also been arrested in 2021 for trespassing, but wasn't indicted.

Homesh yeshiva director Shmuel Vandi said that they were happy that the State of Israel had begun to correct the mistake of the disengagement.

"Along with the joy of the repeal of the Disengagement Law, we are expecting soon the authorization of the yeshiva, and will continue to raise the flag in Homesh until the authorization of the yeshiva and actual building of Homesh," said Vandi.

Honenu, which provided legal aid to the rabbis and students, said the decision was an example of the power of dedication.

"The Honenu organization had the privilege of standing up for the right of the yeshiva and its rabbis for many years, with legal assistance against the many evictions at the site, against the numerous arrests and police investigations, and to assist the yeshiva's rabbis and students in protracted legal battles against the many indictments that were filed," said Honenu lawyer Moshe Polski.

Samaria Council head Yossi Dagan welcomed the decision, saying that the indictments shouldn't have been filed in the first place.

"There's nothing more basic and moral than contradicting the racist law that discriminates and forbids Jews to be in the region of the land of Israel," said Dagan. "We will continue to act and won't be silent until Homesh and Sa Nur are permanent settlements of the Samaria Regional Council, and I'm happy that also the prosecution and courts understand that being in these places is no longer against the law."

Left-wing NGO Yesh Din said that the Homesh outpost was built on private Palestinian land, and noted that the dropping of the indictments by noting that the repealing of the Disengagement Law does not authorize the settlement.

"The decision to drop the indictments without prosecuting the invaders for trespassing is outrageous and sends a clear message that the State of Israel encourages plundering and dispossession of Palestinians," said Yesh Din.