Acting Israel PM to remove illegal Jewish outposts on West Bank News
Acting Israel PM to remove illegal Jewish outposts on West Bank

[JURIST] Interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert [official profile] on Wednesday asked his defense minister to create a plan for removing 24 Jewish settler outposts, deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice [official website], from the Palestinian West Bank. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon [BBC profile; official website] and the Israeli Cabinet originally decided to dismantle the outposts last March [JURIST report] as part of the "Road Map" to peace with Palestine, but Sharon delayed the removal of the outposts to avoid backlash from Israelis already upset with the Gaza evacuation. Settlers, who contributed to the delay with legal action over the past year, plan to appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court [official website] to retain the outposts, which a government study last year also branded illegal [JURIST report]. Olmert wants to immediately begin removing outposts from the West Bank city of Hebron, where security forces arrested settlers and supporters on Tuesday. AP has more.