TEL AVIV, July 20: The Israeli parliament overwhelmingly rejected a last-ditch move by right-wingers on Wednesday to delay the Gaza Strip pullout for up to a year as a rally to protest next month’s withdrawal fizzled out.
A series of bills put forward by a number of MPs, including two former ministers, were rejected after a stormy debate by a vote of 69-41, with two abstentions.
A sponsor of one of the bills, former welfare minister Zevulun Orlev, had proposed that the pullout not begin before July next year, arguing that the government had made insufficient preparations to look after the 8,000 Gaza settlers.
“The government is trying to fool us when it says that everything is ready to rehouse the settlers,” he said at the start of the debate.
“The timetable drawn up by the government is cruel and inhuman. Communities risk losing everything – both economically and socially,” added Mr Orlev, who quit the government last year in protest at disengagement.
Uzi Landau, another minister who left the government over his opposition to the pullout, said there was ‘no need for the obsession of respecting the August start date’.
Mr Sharon has consistently stressed that the pullout, expected to last less than a month after it begins on Aug 17, will go ahead in line with his timetable.
The prime minister said the outcome vindicated his plan and illustrated the widespread support that it had in the country.
“The rejection of this proposition is proof that the government, Knesset and even the public support the disengagement,” he told reporters.
“The disengagement plan will be implemented on time, as planned. But I want to say to the settlers: ‘I understand your suffering, I feel the same pain. I love all of you.’”
In addition to the 21 Gaza settlements due to be evacuated, the residents of four small Jewish enclaves in the northern West Bank are also to be uprooted from their homes.
MARCH BLOCKED AGAIN: The rejection of the bills was a further blow to opponents of disengagement who have been frustrated twice in their attempts to stage a solidarity march towards the Gush Katif settlement bloc in southern Gaza.
With police and soldiers blocking all access to and from the small town of Kfar Maimon, protesters began to drift away and abandon their intention to march towards the Kissufim border crossing. The protesters were thwarted in a similar attempt on Tuesday.
The main settlers lobby, Yesha, tried to rally morale by urging demonstrators to recharge their batteries before resuming their campaign later in the day.
A loudspeaker message called on those who remained to gather for a collective prayer session before embarking on a march on Gush Katif.
The police however made clear that there was no prospect of a change of heart of the marchers being allowed to proceed.
“As far as we are concerned, the protesters can stay as long as they want in Kfar Maimon but they are forbidden from leaving in order to march towards Kissufim (the crossing into southern Gaza),” police spokeswoman Sharon Brown said.
Elhanan Rappaport, a 41-year-old from the West Bank settlement of Dolev, said that while he was leaving Kfar Maimon for the moment, he had no intention of giving up the struggle for the 21 Gaza settlements to remain in Israeli hands.
“We will get a change of clothes back at home and then return on top form,” said Mr Rappaport. “We will not give up our fight and we will continue onwards in spite of the roadblocks.”—AFP
