The Israeli Cabinet on Sunday approved the first-ever removal of Jewish settlers from the Palestinian territories by authorising Ariel Sharon’s plan to pull out of the Gaza strip and a small part of the West Bank.
Shortly afterwards, the prime minister signed the order that will make it illegal for 8 000 settlers to remain in Gaza and four West Bank settlements after July 20.
But a second Cabinet decision approving changes to the route of the West Bank barrier is likely to reinforce Palestinian fears that Sharon intends to use the Gaza withdrawal as cover to annex the major Jewish settlements to Israel.
At the beginning of the Cabinet meeting Sharon, who was the godfather of settlement construction for nearly three decades, said: ”This is not a happy day”.
”The evacuation of communities from Gaza and northern Samaria [West Bank] is a very difficult step. It is difficult for the residents, for the citizens of Israel, for me and I am certain that it is difficult for the members of the Cabinet. But this is a vital step for the future of the state of Israel,” he said.
Sunday’s vote came a few days after the Israeli Parliament approved a Bill to finance the Gaza withdrawal, overcoming the last major legislative hurdle to the plan.
After July 20, the military can begin forcibly removing those Jews who refuse to leave the settlements voluntarily. The government says it plans for all the settlers to be be gone from the Gaza strip by the beginning of September.
The army is expected to deploy thousands of troops to empty out each of the affected 21 Gaza settlements one by one. Those who resist face up to two years in prison. Sharon has not set a deadline for pulling the army out of the Gaza strip.
The Cabinet voted 17-5 in favour of the pullout at a lengthy meeting at which the influential former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu opposed the measure because Sharon would not agree to a referendum. The Foreign Minister, Silvan Shalom, who had said he would vote against the withdrawal unless there was a referendum, eventually supported it.
”I think we have to give peace a chance, even if it’s a slim chance. We owe it to our children, to our grandchildren, for a better future,” he said.
The Cabinet also approved a new route for parts of the West Bank barrier after the Israeli high court ordered changes because of harm caused to Palestinians.
Sections of the barrier — which is mostly steel fence but in parts an eight-metre-high concrete wall — will be built closer to the 1967 border than originally planned.
But the changes still place the major settlement blocs of Ma’ale Adumim and Gush Etzion on the Israeli side, and effectively annex about 7% of the West Bank to the Jewish state.
The Israeli government says the fence and wall is a security measure to prevent suicide bombings and other attacks. The Palestinians say it is designed to unilaterally impose a border that ensures the major Jewish settlements become part of Israel.
Last week, Sharon told reporters that he had the United States President George Bush’s backing for Israel to annex the main settlement blocs.
Although all the Cabinet and legislative hurdles directly related to the Gaza pullout have been overcome, opponents are trying to rally support for blocking the budget next month which would bring down the government and delay the disengagement plan. However, it is thought unlikely they can muster sufficient support to derail the withdrawal. – Guardian Unlimited Â