Bidou, West Bank ? Israel’s Supreme Court sided with the Palestinians in a precedent-setting decision Wednesday, ordering the government to reroute part of its West Bank separation barrier near Jerusalem because it causes too much suffering.

The ruling, the first major legal decision on the barrier, cracked a cornerstone of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to disengage from the Palestinians by 2005.

Palestinians rejoiced at the move. A family in this West Bank village expressed relief at no longer being blocked from its olive trees, and a little boy rode his bicycle up and down the barrier route waving a Palestinian flag.

“The wall was choking all of our lives. That’s why the decision is important,” said Mohammed Abu Eid, a 54-year-old father of 10 whose crops were uprooted to make room for the barrier.

Israel’s deputy defense minister, Zeev Boim, said the ruling would delay completion of the barrier, which Israel says it crucial for keeping out suicide bombers. “Now there will be a court appeal on every meter (yard) of the fence,” Boim told Israel TV’s Channel One.

The court said the barrier must be rerouted, even at the cost of Israeli security. Several officials decried the ruling as a security menace, but the Defense Ministry, which oversees the barrier’s construction, said it would comply.

The court also forced the government to return land that has been seized and compensate the Palestinians for their financial losses, making it less likely the government can finish the project by next year as planned.

The ruling focused on a stretch of barrier near Jerusalem that would have separated some 35,000 Palestinians from their crops. Foundations had been laid along parts of the 25-mile section, and earthmovers had leveled ground and uprooted trees elsewhere in preparation for construction.

Sharon’s critics say he’s using the barrier to impose a political reality: a final settlement with the Palestinians that would enable Israel to keep large tracts of West Bank land.

Under Sharon’s plan for “unilateral disengagement,” Israel would complete the separation barrier and withdraw from the Gaza Strip by the end of 2005.