http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=83616
Settlers let off steam with Sharon
By Nadav Shragai,
Ha'aretz, October 17, 2001
Sharon: `Oslo is not continuing; there won't be Oslo; Oslo is
over'Leaders of the settlement movement let off steam at a meeting
with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon late Monday night, and came away with
the impression that Sharon is under a lot of pressure.
The meeting was scheduled weeks ago, and by coincidence took place
hours after the army withdrew from Abu Sneina and Haret al- Sheikh,
overlooking the Jewish apartment block in the center of Hebron in a
move that prompted the resignation of two key settler movement allies
in the government, National Infrastructure Minister Avigdor Lieberman
and Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi.
Up to the last minute the settlement leadership was divided on whether
to meet with the prime minister. When they finally did meet with him,
they found a prime minister who was angry and upset.
The first speaker was Danny Dayan of Ma'ale Shomron, who said that
while the security situation for settlers was not good, it was "the
terrible feeling that you are cooking up a Palestinian state behind
our backs and negotiating under fire. We'll fight with all our might,
we'll take to the streets. This diplomatic course, which you are
backing, is the end of the settlements, the end of the state of
Israel."
Benzy Lieberman, who heads the Samaria Regional Council argued, "The
army is confused. Tanks go up and down. There's a siege, then there
isn't a siege. The army is not free to act the way it used to be."
At that stage, the settlers and Sharon began to exchange angry words.
Sharon burst out, "The army has freedom of action everywhere. In Areas
A, B, and C. They have no limits." Lieberman broke in. "There's no
strategy. The army can't see the target," and then Yehoshua Mor Yosef
added, "The problem with Abu Sneina is that you are relying on Arafat
and give his soldiers responsibility for the security for Jews."
"Where's the change you promised," seemed to be the recurring theme in
the meeting, and it angered Sharon. "I haven't changed my mind about
that murderer Arafat for the last 30 years," he exclaimed.
Shaul Goldstein went further. "If Arafat is not bin Laden, then he
deserves a state. If he deserves a state, he's not a terrorist, he's a
freedom fighter. And if he's a freedom fighter, then we - Israel - are
occupiers, and it's legitimate to fight us. Do you understand where
that logic is going?"
Benny Kasriel of Ma'ale Adumim said, "Our solution is to break up the
Palestinian Authority and get rid of Arafat. And Peres. He's
sabotaging you. He'll never let you act and will always pressure you.
We'll never be able to protect ourselves as long as he is foreign
minister." At that point, Kasriel said he saw a newspaper item
indicating Sharon was considering allowing the Palestinians back into
the Orient House.
Sharon was furious. "Write this down. I will never let them into
Orient House, and not to Abu Dis or Issawiyeh. Friends, you are heroic
in this campaign. You've been through a difficult year. But the army -
despite your impressions - has broad room for maneuver. It has no
limits. I hear the advice from wiseguys who made the biggest
concessions of all," said Sharon - an apparent reference to Benjamin
Netanyahu - "but my way is to go for small, consistent actions at
three levels: a reaction to every attack, special operations like Beit
Jalla or Abu Sneina, and focused preventive attacks," a reference to
the assassination policy. He warned that a more broadscale operation
could bring the Egyptians into Sinai and create the danger of a
regional conflict. And he said that he intends to make sure the
Palestinians abide by the Mitchell Report, which he said includes
"cutting back the Palestinian police to 30,000 troops, handing over
illegal weapons and arresting all the murderers."
As for the Oslo agreement, Sharon told the settlers, "Evacuating Abu
Sneina is not Oslo. Oslo is not continuing. There won't be Oslo. Oslo
is over. You want to bring me down, do it." And regarding Peres,
Sharon said: "You attribute a lot of influence to him. He would have
been very happy to sit here and hear this. I'm sure he thinks
differently."
Referring to his recent speech to teachers in which he said that
Israel would accept a Palestinian state, Sharon said, "What I didn't
say is that state would be demilitarized, that we would have
responsibility for its border crossings, there will be limits on its
air space, and we'll still hold security areas. Those areas we don't
hold - like Nablus, Ramallah, Kabatiyeh, Jenin or Jericho - they'll
control."
And regarding the Temple Mount, Sharon was no less militant: "That
hill, our holy of holies, will never be given to anyone. But it's not
right nor appropriate to skirmish for it."
Coincidentally, the meeting on Monday night was followed yesterday
morning by a Peace Now release of Central Bureau of Statistics data
about housing starts in the territories, showing that in the first
half of 2001, there was a sharp decline in housing starts from 2000.
There were 832 housing starts in the first half of 2001, while in 2000
there were 4,499 housing starts. At the end of June this year there
were a total of 6,539 housing units under construction in the
settlements.
According to the numbers released yesterday, the administration of
former prime minister Ehud Barak allowed 6,045 housing starts and 2000
saw more housing starts - 4,499 - than in any year since 1992.
Indeed, until the Oslo accords were signed, there were 32,750 housing
units in the settlements, and since Oslo, another 20,371 units were
constructed.
According to Meretz MK Mussi Raz, who released the numbers, 73 percent
of the housing units being sold in the entire country in August were
in the territories - 772 units out of 1,067 in the entire country.
And since the establishment of the Sharon government, land was
marketed for the construction of 1,359 housing units, representing 35
percent of all the land marketed for construction in the entire
country. Raz said that was a 258 percent increase over last year,
when 528 housing units were marketed - and this is happening in a
recession, noted Raz, when there has been a 28 percent drop in land
sales for housing throughout Israel.
