By Ryan Jones
Jun 11, 2004
Signaling their God-given birthright was not for sale, the Jews of Gaza and northern Samaria Thursday rejected a working plan put forward by Israel's National Security Council that would offer them early compensation for voluntarily evacuating their homes.
"Only about 5% of Gaza residents would evacuate willingly," a Gush Katif official told reporters. He said the attempt to loosen the resolve of the settlers with material offerings was not unexpected, but that the vast majority of Gaza's Jews would fight for their homes until the end.
"After paying such a high price for the privilege of living here," the Jews of Gaza are not interested abandoning their biblical patrimony, Gush Katif spokesman Eran Sternberg said.
Residents of northern Samaria's Jewish communities also insisted their homes were not for sale.
They accused Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of trying to "break our spirits," and "take advantage of those in difficult financial situations."
Compensation plan
Israel's National Security Council Wednesday presented the steering committee established to oversee the evacuation of Jews from Gaza and northern Samaria with a "working plan," including a timetable for the removal of 25 settlements.
According to the as yet unapproved timetable, any Jewish resident of those communities slated for removal that expresses a willingness to voluntarily evacuate would be offered financial compensation.
That deal would be good until August 14, 2005, at which point the Gaza Strip would be declared a closed military zone. On September 1, 2005, the forced evacuation of any remaining Jews would begin.
Any Jews that did not voluntarily leave prior to that date would no longer be eligible for compensation, nor would any Jews that moved to the doomed communities as of last Sunday.
Justice Ministry Director-General Aharon Abramovitch is scheduled to an "evacuation, compensation and negotiation" committee next week to iron out the legal aspects of offering an paying financial compensation to Jewish settlers.
Officials from the Prime Minister's Offices stressed that the working plan and its timetable are still tentative and have yet to be officially approved.
The compromise Gaza-Samaria retreat plan approved by Israel's cabinet on Sunday stated that each of the four phases of Sharon's planned retreat must be separately approved prior to their implementation. The NSC timetable does not appear to take that into account.
'Our beliefs not for sale'
In response to the attempt to buy them off, leaders and residents of the Gaza and northern Samaria Jewish communities declared their God-given right to settle the ancient Israeli homeland was not for sale.
Samaria Regional Council head Benzi Lieberman Thursday wrote a letter to Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, accusing Sharon of trying to "break the will of the settlers with material offerings," The Jerusalem Post reported.
The government's plan to pay the settlers to leave their homes would require appraisers to visit the communities in the near future.
But a spokesman for the southern Gaza Katif Bloc said the appraisers would be better off staying at home.
The residents of Gaza would not welcome the appraisers with open arms, "after having paid such a high price for the privilege" of putting their beliefs into action and settling the Strip, Eran Sternberg told reporters.
In northern Samaria, one resident sent Sharon an angry letter stating her community of Homesh "is not for sale."
Etti Rosenblatt accused the prime minister of "waging a psychological war to break our spirits..."
Debbie Drori, a spokeswoman for the neighboring communit of Kadim said Sharon was trying to "take advantage of those in difficult economic situations, people who at this point would accept anything."
She pointed out that the actual removal of Jewish settlements has yet to be made law or even official policy, and yet "they are talking about compensation."
"It is terrible how they are playing us," she was quoted as saying by The Jerusalem Post .