Israel Orders a Dozen ‘Wildcat’ West Bank settlements Dismantled
‘Wildcat’, the latest addition to the MSM lexicon to describe hilltop residents of Yehuda and the Shomron. For context, click here and here.
Peace Now: Set Evacuation Time Frame
Ordering the IDF to prepare an evacuation operation plan, Peretz signed eviction orders for 12 illegal outposts in the West Bank, in what could lead the defense establishment on a collision course with the settlement movement.
Peretz’s decision on Wednesday was to reinstate the evacuation orders to grant the defense establishment the ability to speedily evacuate the outposts if he decided to. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also gave his approval for the eviction orders. The outposts designated for eviction included: Mizpeh Yitzhar near the settlement of Yitzhar; Yitzhar Darom (South); Havat Shaked; Givat Hadegel near Karnei Shomron; Givat Haroeh near Ramallah; Mizpeh Assaf near Beit El; Mizpeh Lahish near Hebron and Hazon David near Kiryat Arba.
Peretz further ordered IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz to begin drawing up an operational plan for the evacuation. OC central command Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh, together with the police, would decide, officials said, what the evacuation order would be and which outpost would be evacuated first.
Security officials estimated that the evacuations would be done gradually and not simultaneously. “To evacuate all of the outposts together would create a huge burden on the defense establishment,” one official said. “It would be best to do them one by one.”
For more background; click Peretz Orders Removal of Outposts From Judea & Samaria