JERUSALEM, 24 December 2004 — A dozen Israeli lawmakers have signed a pledge to join Jewish settlers in resisting the dismantling of settlements in the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank — the latest sign that protests could be fierce.
Lawmaker Effie Eitam, a leader of the group, told Israel Army Radio yesterday that the petition calls for nonviolent protests, but acknowledged that things could get out of hand.
“We must not carry out this evacuation. I think the prime minister has to understand that this evacuation stretches...the limits of democracy,” Eitam said.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to dismantle 25 settlements and remove 8,600 settlers from their homes has infuriated Israeli hard-liners. Protests escalated this week, after Sharon managed to stabilize his wobbly coalition and the settlers’ political options were dwindling.
Some settlers, comparing the evacuation of settlements to the Nazi Holocaust, began wearing orange Star of David patches, similar to those the Nazis forced Jews to pin to their lapels.
The campaign caused an uproar in Israel, which gave refuge to hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors after World War II. Critics said the settlers belittled the suffering of the survivors and caused them new anguish.
Organizers of the Star of David campaign said yesterday they would stop handing out the patches, at the request of the Yesha Settlers Council, the main umbrella group of settlements.
In Eitam’s petition, lawmakers pledge to “prevent with our bodies the immoral and inhumane expulsion of thousands of heroic pioneer settlers.”
The petition has been signed by 12 of 120 lawmakers, including three from Sharon’s Likud Party and the rest from far-right factions, Eitam’s spokesman said.
The petition said protesters will not use violence against Israeli soldiers and police officers ordered to carry out the withdrawal.
The withdrawal plan cost Sharon his parliamentary majority last summer, when Eitam’s pro-settler National Religious Party and other hardliners bolted the coalition.
Expecting possibly violent resistance, Israel’s police have asked for additional money to carry out the evacuation, said spokesman Gil Kleiman.
The Yediot Ahronot daily said police asked for an additional $85.3 million.
The money will be used to call up reserve police officers and to purchase equipment, including hundreds of batons, riot gear, horses and water cannons, the newspaper reported.
However, at least one Gaza Strip settlement is ready to leave voluntarily, the Haaretz daily said. The residents of Peat Sadeh, a settlement of 17 families, have agreed to move to a nearby community in Israel, Moshav Mavkiim, Haaretz said.
Jewish settlers who leave voluntarily, before the official evacuation begins in July, are set to receive cash advances from the government. All settlers will be compensated for the homes, businesses and other possessions they leave behind.
