This article was originally published in Haaretz and is republished with permission.

Construction continues on the illegal Israeli settlement of Har Homa, built on lands confiscated from Bethlehem. (Magnus Johansson, Maan Images)

In response to a petition filed by the Palestinian owners of the property on which the illegal settlement outpost of Migron was established, the State Prosecutor's Office asked the court to delay its deliberations on the case for four to five months, in order to give the state time to submit an "update." The justification offered for this request was that Defense Minister Amir Peretz had ordered the Israel Defense Forces to hold talks with the settler leadership in an effort to reach an agreement on the voluntary evacuation of the illegal outposts "in the near future." If the talks fail to bear fruit, Peretz plans to order the evacuation of Migron within six months.

The outpost of Migron was set up on the sly in May 2001. First, an antenna was set up; then a container, in which a guard lived; and since then, 60 caravans and two permanent homes, housing 43 families, have been erected. In view of the fact that their property was stolen, the owners of the land repeatedly applied to the Civil Administration, seeking its help in getting their property back. The authorities turned a blind eye and the construction and population of Migron went on. Two months ago, the owners of the land filed a petition demanding that the army raze the structures, against which final demolition orders had already been issued.

On May 16, 2006, the defense minister announced that he would allow two weeks for negotiations with the settlers in the illegal outposts on evacuating of their own accord, and if no results were achieved, the IDF would begin evacuating them by force in early November. The defense minister did not keep his word, and the illegal outposts, including Migron, are still standing. Now, Migron - and probably the other illegal outposts as well - has been given a further extension that will last at least "four or five months." In practice, the procrastination could continue endlessly, because the State Prosecutor's Office said in its statement that the timing of the evacuation depends on coordination with the prime minister, the circumstances and various other constraints.

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The failure to evacuate the illegal outposts, despite the Talia Sasson report, is an unacceptable scandal. But the case of Migron is especially shameful for the state authorities and the rule of law. The demand to evacuate Migron requires no political justification; the fact that it was built on clearly private land - not lands that were appropriated for various uses by the state, but lands for which documentary proof of private ownership exists - is enough to justify evacuating the trespassers without hesitation or delay. In a law-abiding state, the owners of the land ought to be able to expect the authorities to aid them and restore their property to them. But the government of Israel repeatedly relies on excuses and makes promises that no one believes it intends to keep.

Migron is not the sole illegal outpost built on private land (see the article by Uzi Benziman on this page, which cites Peace Now's findings that 130 settlements were fully or partially set up on private land). But it sticks out due to the cunning and fraud that led to its establishment and the authorities' embarrassing and continued failure to remove it. And it also raises serious doubts about who really rules the territories - the law or the settlers.