JERUSALEM, 30 June 2005 — Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon vowed yesterday to show an iron fist against “hooligans” trying to halt this summer’s pullout from the Gaza Strip, as police used water cannon to prevent a mass blockade of the roads. As a new opinion poll indicated that support for the prime minister’s disengagement plan had slumped to an all-time low, Sharon told his security chiefs they must not allow ultranationalists to hold the country to ransom and block the implementation of a plan that has won parliamentary approval.
“We cannot allow gangs to undermine the country,” Sharon was quoted as telling senior ministers and security chiefs at a meeting in Jerusalem. “We have to act with an iron fist against hooligans.”
His comments came ahead of a bid by settlers and their supporters to bring the nation’s roads to a standstill with blockades during evening rush hour.
In Jerusalem, police could be seen baton-charging protesters who tried to sit down in the middle of the main road from Tel Aviv and then turned the water cannon on them. Although the road was briefly blocked, the disruption was short-lived, an AFP correspondent reported. Similar protests took place on major highways and junctions throughout the country.
