16-Year-Battle for Jerusalem Property in Final Stage

By Hillel Fendel
Sivan 26, 5769,
Israelnationalnews.com

Yitzchak Herskovitz, 78, is hoping that his 16-year legal battle to regain control of his property from Arab squatters in Jerusalem might end with a final ruling in the coming days – or weeks or months.

After undergoing three trials, Herskovitz has now filed a motion for “expedition” of the final ruling. “Everything points to a ruling in my favor,” Herskovitz says, “but we’re still waiting for it to be handed down.”

The first trial was in the Jerusalem Magistrates Court, in 1993. Herskovitz filed suit against an Arab clan of squatters, the Tsalah family, who were living on his land near the Beit Tsafafa and Gilo neighborhoods of Jerusalem. After more than a decade, Herskovitz won the case; the Arabs appealed the ruling and lost again, and the squatters were to have been evicted.

But the Arabs then took the initiative, and sued Herskovitz, claiming ownership of the property and thus delaying the eviction. After 18 months, they abruptly withdrew their case; Herskovitz says this was purely a “stalling maneuver.”

A month or two later, before the police had a chance to carry out the eviction orders, the third trial began, with the Arabs once again filing an ownership suit in the District Court. That trial finally ended two months ago, and its final ruling is awaited – though it need not be issued before April 2010.

Police Delay
“One of the things that bothers me,” the feisty and colorful Herskovitz told Israel National News, “is that the police, by stalling and not carrying out the eviction orders at various opportunities, enabled this whole thing to be dragged out for so long. For instance, in 2008, they could have evicted the Arab squatters, in accordance with court order, but did not – and instead asked for an extension of a few months!”

Hear Yitzchak Herskovitz on IsraelNationalRadio’s Yishai Fleisher Show.

Early this month, Herskovitz filed his request to expedite the final ruling. He wrote that at the “ripe young age” of 78, and not in the best of health, and after 16 years of what he calls “legal shenanigans by those who stole my property,” he deserves to have the ruling hurried up.

The official request to the Jerusalem District Court, filed on June 3, states that in addition to physical health problems, he “suffers from severe emotional distress as a result of the continued illegal possession of his property for so many years.”

Herskovitz further wrote that the squatters “withdrew their original court suit only in order to re-file it again later, for the purpose of dragging out the process for many years. This was carried out in bad faith and with bad intentions, and expresses their lack of respect to the judicial process. They knowingly and frequently perjured themselves, out of scorn to the court and to my rights, and sensing that they are immune to punishment.”

The request concludes, “In order that the appellant receive justice, the process of issuing the final ruling should be expedited, lest he miss the opportunity to use and enjoy his property forever.”

Nearly two weeks after filing the request, Herskovitz showed up in the District Court to check on the status of his request. He was told that the petition had been rejected because the court had not received the trial summations. “This threw me into shock,” Herskovitz said, “because I had personally filed my summation two months earlier. The clerk then searched for the file, and sure enough, found my summation lying atop the file.”

The clerk said she would inform the judge of the error the very next day. As a result, on June 11, the judge issued the following ruling to Herskovitz’s request for expedition: “If the plaintiffs [Arab squatters – ed.] do not issue their rebuttal summation within seven days, the ruling will be issued on the basis of the summations that are [already] in the file.”

Today, seven days after that ruling was issued, Herskovitz says he will check in court next week. Meanwhile, he continues to wait for the chance to live on his property – as he has been doing for the last 16 years.