JERUSALEM — The Israeli Supreme Court has reacted coolly to a government request to delay the demolition of an illegal West Bank settler outpost.
The state agreed to raze the five buildings by May 1 after it acknowledged they were built on private Palestinian land. But it put off the deadline by asking the court to reopen the case.
The government is under pressure from settlers who insist the construction was legal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition is sympathetic to the settlers.
Justices sounded impatient with the government at Sunday's one-day court hearing. Justice Uzi Fogelman said, "When the state makes a commitment, we do not even contemplate that the commitment will not be honored."
The court did not say when it would rule on the request.
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