Committee Finds: Withdrawal from Yesha Dangerous
Excerpts;
Leading politicians not necessarily associated with the right-wing have come to similar conclusions. Less than two months ago, President Moshe Katzav said that a unilateral pullback from Yesha should not be construed as constituting a diplomatic solution, and even had strong criticism of the unilateral nature of the pullback from Gaza.
A minister in Olmert’s own government and party, Housing Minister Meir Sheetrit of the Kadima party, recently expressed his opposition to a unilateral withdrawal from Judea and Samaria. One of the first to join former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in forming Kadima last year, Sheetrit said, “For one thing, in Gaza, we withdrew all the way to an internationally recognized border, whereas that will not be the case in Judea and Samaria. So what would be the point?”
In addition, MK Yossi Beilin, head of the ultra-left Meretz party, said he has warned Olmert not to count on his party’s five Knesset votes for his withdrawal plan. Beilin opposes it because the Jews of Yesha would not be transferred out, but would rather remain in large settlement blocs in Yesha.
Just yesterday, opposition politicians Binyamin Netanyahu, Avidgor Lieberman and others said that a clear conclusion from the fighting in Lebanon is that any plan to unilaterally withdraw from territory has no place in Israeli diplomacy.
“We left Lebanon to the last centimeter,” Netanyahu told the Knesset yesteray, “and they are firing. We left Gaza to the last centimeter, and they are firing. What we have learned is that if they lay down their arms there will be peace – but if we lay down our arms, they will slaughter us.”
For the summary of the committee’s findings, click here.