?Sharon endangering the Land of Israel?

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By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
October 21, 2004

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip sets a dangerous precedent that jeopardizes Israel’s hold on Judea, Samaria and even Jerusalem.

So wrote long-time Sharon supporter Reuven Rivlin, the current Knesset Speaker, in a strongly worded letter to Likud Party members that was published by Israel’s Yediot Ahronot Thursday.

The letter came amid feverish attempts by Sharon to garner coalition and opposition support ahead of a crucial Knesset vote on his “disengagement” plan next Tuesday.

In it, Rivlin accused the prime minister of betraying his party, the entire nationalist camp and the Land of Israel by embracing leftist policies that deny the Jews’ biblical right to settle not only the coastal plain, but Judea, Samaria and Gaza as well.

"I read [the submitted Disengagement Law] and I shuddered. Dozens of technical, financial and bureaucratic clauses; their purpose – to uproot everything,” wrote Rivlin.

He warned that Sharon’s retreat policy would “eventually encompass (if not by this Likud government, then by that which will replace it and will rely on the precedents this government sets) the open space of Judea, the land of Benjamin, all of Samaria and also Jerusalem.”

"He who declares himself an 'occupier' in Gush Katif will not be able to stop there.”

Rivlin lamented the fact that Sharon was determined to implement his plan despite the “horrific rift” it was causing in the nation.

He hinted that perhaps it was a mistake for the public to elect Sharon, noting that “over the years, when we chose our leaders, we did not check their loyalty to the principles of the land of Israel's national camp.”

The letter also decried the demonization by the left-wing media of the Jewish settlers, who Rivlin termed the “most dedicated Zionist, pioneering public.”

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