Israel court rejects plea to delay West Bank outpost removal

JERUSALEM – Israel's Supreme Court has rejected a government petition to postpone demolition of a West Bank settlement outpost whose fate could destabilize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-line coalition.

Monday's ruling on Amona comes a day after a parliamentary committee approved a bill that, if adopted, would legalize outposts built without government permission.

The court ruled in 2014 that Amona was built on private Palestinian land and must be demolished by Dec. 25 of this year.

In 2006, Israeli police demolished nine homes at Amona, setting off clashes with settlers. Several dozen trailers remained.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war and began building settlements there soon after. Palestinians and the international community view both settlements and outposts as illegal or illegitimate, and an obstacle to Palestinian statehood.