The Israeli Cabinet delivered a historic decision today. For the first time ever, an Israeli Government has voted to dismantle settlements in the disputed territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Better late than never, I suppose. This is a move that may well have been carried out by Yitzhak Rabin if he hadn't been gunned down by a fanatical Jew who was hell-bent on preventing concessions to the Palestinians. Well I hope you're happy now, Yigal Amir!
The late lamented Bernard Levin, a witty trenchant writer coined the term "Single-Issue-Fanatics". This term applies perfectly to the hard core West Bank and Gaza settlers and their supporters. Settling every inch of the Land of their Israel is their raison d'etre, and woe betide anyone who stands in their way. See Rabbi Pini Dunner's excellent article in the Jerusalem Post, on this issue.
Although one can certainly feel sympathy for families who have to leave their homes, they will receive massive financial compensation, enabling them to resettle elsewhere. People are thrown out of their homes every day, because they are unable to pay their mortgages. Do they get financial reimbursement, or new houses? I imagine that most of the Gaza settlers are reasonable people who will accept the Government decree. It is the Single-Issue-Fanatics (we shall call them SIFs!) that we must be wary of - the hard core who are prepared to inflict misery on the entire nation, just so they can live out their messianic bloodthirsty visions. No doubt, they will go on screaming "referendum, referendum!" This is clearly a ruse to prevent the Disengagement Plan, and they know it.
The extreme right-wing who accuse Ariel Sharon of rejecting democracy are appalling hypocrites. The whole settlement enterprise was undemocratic from start to finish. For years, Zeev Hever, a veteran settlement leader and his acolytes have been establishing settlement outposts on the sly, away from the public eye. The whole settlement building process has always been a case of "quietly does it". Is that transparent? Is that democratic? Of course not! The settler leaders need to understand that democracy works both ways.
The vast majority of the Israeli population care little about the settlements. Most Israelis will shed few tears if most of the settlements are removed. I suspect that the SIFs are aware of this fact, and they will do their utmost to force their extreme ideologies down our throats, as the Disengagement Plan looms. The SIFs had their way in 1995, after Israel's Prime Minister was gunned down in cold blood. This time around, they shall not pass!
Ush
