Mitzpe Kramim

Mitzpe Kramim (Hebrew: מצפה כרמים‎, lit. Vineyards Lookout) is an Israeli outpost in the West Bank. Located on a mountain ridge overlooking the Jordan River Valley in the West Bank, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council.

Mitzpe Keramim was established in 1999 on Israeli Independence Day near Kokhav HaShahar. Several second generation families from Kokhav HaShahar left their homes and moved to a hill south of the village. Less than a year later, after an agreement with the Barak government, the group was relocated to a hilltop closer to Kokhav HaShahar. Only a few months afterwards though, a new village, Ma'ale Shlomo, was established on the original site.

In 2011, a group of Palestinians from the village of Deir Jarir claiming ownership over the land on which the outpost sits submitted a petition to the High Court of Justice to have the community of some 40 families removed.[1]

Today seventeen families including about forty children live in Mitzpe Kramim.

The international community considers any Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.[2]

According to ARIJ, Israeli settlers "forcefully seized" land from the Palestinian villages of Deir Jarir[3] and Kafr Malik[4] in order to construct Mitzpe Kramim.

References
  1. Magid, Jacob. "Court okays legalization of West Bank outpost, possibly paving way for more". The Times of Israel. The Times of Israel. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  2. "The Geneva Convention". BBC News. 10 December 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
  3. Deir Jarir Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 20
  4. Kafr Malik Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 20

Judge Arnon Darel of the Jerusalem District Court ruled on Tuesday, August 29, 2018, that Mizpe Kramim need not be razed because the residents erected the community "in good faith" and have rights to the property. The court used a policy known as "market regulation" that could pave the way for regulating dozens of other illegal hilltop communities beyond the Green Line.[1]

  1. Magid, Jacob. "Court okays legalization of West Bank outpost, possibly paving way for more". The Times of Israel. The Times of Israel. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
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