According to the Haaretz website on Tuesday, 23 Menachem Av, the head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, Shlomo Neeman, lives in an illegal home.

The report states the home is on land near Karmei Tzur but it is not legal. It states the Tzur Shalom Outpost is illegal, so much so that demolition orders have already been issued by the IDF Civil Administration for all the structures there.

The outpost, which is Neeman’s home since 2002, when it was a mere fifteen buildings, showed 25 buildings in an aerial photo dating from last year. The smaller buildings that were there in 2002 were replaced with larger ones. Most of the buildings today are permanent and quite large, including the one belonging to Neeman.

Officials in Neeman’s office insist he broke no laws. “The neighborhood of Tzur Shalom was established adjacent to Yishuv Karmei Tzur after the murder of Dr. Shmuel Gillis HY”D and in his memory. The community is in existence for close to 20 years but the government never completes arranging for the necessary permits”.

Neeman| added, 14 years ago, after the infiltration into the community and triple murders of soldier Shalom Mordechai HY”D and Eyal and Yael Shorek HY”D, with Yael being nine months pregnant. The Neeman family then moved into the area and later a permanent home.