Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned Jewish settlers on Wednesday that he will use all the government’s power against any of them who violently resist his planned withdrawal from Gaza and a token part of the West Bank this year.
His comment reflected an angry confrontation on Monday between settlers and the Israeli army, which helped the police to remove two settler outposts at Shalhevet of the hardline Yizhar settlement in the West Bank.
There were scuffles and catcalls, and soldiers had stones thrown at them, the army said.
Sharon, who was the main force behind the creation of the illegal settlements on the West Bank and Gaza in the 1980s and 1990s, offered his unequivocal support to the soldiers.
He said it is more important to keep the army intact than to preserve the settlements, and signalled that he is prepared to deal harshly with settler violence.
He is planning to withdraw all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank, about 7 500 settlers in total. That will leave about 400 000 settlers in the West Bank, some of whom are heavily involved in opposing the plan.
Speaking to Israeli Army Radio, he told the soldiers involved in Monday’s confrontation not to take the insults personally.
”Whoever raises a hand to a soldier or police officer or security official, whoever organises refusal, whoever threatens — we will act against him with all our power.”
He added: ”I heard the curses and catcalls and incitement against the army, against the Israel police, against the commanders and against the soldiers. I ask that you don’t take it personally; it’s not directed against you, it’s directed against the government, against the Knesset and against me.”
The Foreign Ministry, amplifying a warning the previous day by the head of intelligence, Avi Dichter, said it is worried that the Jewish extremist organisation Kach, which is based in some West Bank settlements, is planning to provoke violence against the army.
Sharon told soldiers that in the next few days the government will look at legal action that can be taken against the settlers.
Disobeying soldier punished
On Wednesday, Sergeant Yossi Pilant became the first Israeli soldier to be punished for refusing to obey an order to enforce an evacuation. He was sentenced to 28 days’ detention for calling on fellow soldiers not to obey an order to dismantle an outpost on Monday.
Settlers’ leaders and rabbis have been encouraging soldiers to disobey. Senior officers have been calling for them to be given administrative detention (without trial), normally used only against Palestinians.
An Israeli official said Sharon’s words are aimed at dampening settlers’ hope of defying the government.
Sharon’s chance of pushing through his plan improved on Wednesday when an ultra-Orthodox party, United Torah Judaism, agreed to join his government coalition for a minimum of three months in return for concessions on religious grants.
Sharon faces a series of difficult parliamentary votes on the details of the plan but the five United Torah Judaism MPs, and those of the Labour party, give him 66 of the 120 seats, theoretically enough to face down any rebels in his own Likud party. — Guardian Unlimited Â