Israel's High Court this morning rejected a bid by Jewish settlers to overturn legislation underpinning Israel's planned withdrawal from Gaza.
An 11-judge High Court panel left largely intact, with only minor technical changes, a parliamentary-approved compensation package for 9,000 settlers set for evacuation. The decision cleared the last major legal hurdle to a pullout in August.
Settlers had filed 12 petitions calling for the "disengagement" law, which entails payments ranging from $100,000 and $400,000 per family, to be invalidated or significantly rewritten.
It was the latest in a series of attempts by settlers and their far-right supporters to derail Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to remove all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four of 120 enclaves in the West Bank.
The court's rejection of the petitions means that Mr Sharon, who has already overcome the last legislative hurdles to implementing the pullout, should be able to push ahead without fear of major legal obstacles.
An opinion poll released yesterday showed Israeli public support for the withdrawal falling to a low point with less than half of the population now in favour.
The survey found 48 per cent of Israelis back the withdrawal, while 33 per cent are opposed, and the remaining 19 per cent undecided.
Many settlers see the West Bank and Gaza Strip as Israel's by Biblical birthright and say any withdrawal from occupied land would be a "reward for Palestinian terrorism".