Not Illegal

The latest edition of the Jerusalem Report (which I didn't find on-line) carried a story about "illegal" outposts in Yesha, and our neighbor to the east, Shvut Rachel, was the main example of the story.

After perusing the article at a library, I decided to send to them the following letter:

I served as mayor of the community village of Shiloh at the time when Shvut Rachel was established. Unlike your correspondent's characterization, Shvut Rachel was not "illegal" (Dec. 12).

Shvut Rachel was built on land that was zoned as belonging to Shiloh seven years earlier and until today, actually is classified as a neighborhood of Shiloh. In fact, 70 permanent homes, originally contracted to be built in Shiloh, were erected at Shvut Rachel within its first year of existence.

As a general comment, Jewish residency in Judea, Samaria and Gaza (YESHA) can never be "illegal", a pejorative term of biased political opposition rather than strict legal interpretation. At the worst, the building of Jewish communities may be bureaucratically unauthorized. The Jewish people's right to reconstitute our Jewish National Home in the area of YESHA and the right to "close settlement" therein was recognized and codified in the decision of the Supreme Council of the League of Nations in 1922 and other forums of international law authority.