Mofaz adviser quits amid claims he assisted illegal outposts

[Englander]

By Amos Harel, Akiva Eldar and Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondents

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz's adviser on settlement affairs, Ron Shechner, resigned Wednesday after being implicated of assissting in the construction of illegal outposts.

In a report on illegal outposts submitted March by former senior state prosecutor Talia Sasson, she recommended firing Shechner, who held this position for the past three years.

Sasson said that Shechner had misled the World Zionist Organziation by telling its settlement department that the outposts received government authorization. The report accused Shechner, a resident of the Yatir settlement, of overriding his autority, and of authorizing activities he knew were in violation of the law. Following the report Attorney General Menachem Mazuz demanded Shechner be relieved of his position.

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A week ago Haaretz reported that the recommendation to fire Shechner had not been carried out. The Defense Ministry then responded that Mofaz had not yet made a decision on Shechner's employment. Another central recommendation of the Sasson report, supported by a cabinet decision to decrease the number of illegal outposts in the West Bank has not been implemented yet.

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