'Pullout could fail,' lawyer warns IDF

Top Israeli attorney warns army of failure in carrying out withdrawal from Gaza, says troops should prepare for "radical scenarios" from settlers
By Guy Mei-Tal

TEL AVIV - A planned Israeli pullout from Gaza could fail if Jewish settlers succeed in thwarting the withdrawal with violence, and forces should therefore be prepared to combat “radical scenarios”, a prominent Israeli lawyer told the IDF, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on Thursday.

Attorney Talia Sasson, who made headlines last month with a summary she submitted to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at his request about Israel’s construction of settlements, did not specify what scenes forces conducting the pullout were likely to face in her report to the army, co-written by the Israeli Institute of Democracy.

“The soldiers and officers must be prepared for radical scenarios that will occur during the withdrawal, but the army should keep its preparations secret and hide them from the public,” she wrote in the report, obtained by Yedioth Ahronoth.

Although settler leaders have condemned the use of violence as a means of resistance, security officials warn of possible shooting attacks by settlers during the pullout.

They also said families may try to barricade themselves inside their homes and threaten suicide as forces try to evacuate them.

Violence to be used only if 'vital'

Israel plans to pull all 8,500 settlers out of Gaza this summer. But should they succeed in sabotaging the withdrawal, Sasson said, the army’s status could suffer a large blow and the pullout’s failure could lead to the crumbling of Israel’s democracy.

“The army may find it difficult to carry out the pullout as a result of officers and soldiers who oppose it and the unknown number of those who may refuse orders (to participate in the evacuation),” she wrote in the report.

Nonetheless, she said, forces should refrain from using violence against the settlers unless it was “vital” to the pullout and made in self-defense. Troops should also not respond to swearing.

A right-wing source condemned the report, saying it was drafted to silence protesters.

“The report teaches soldiers they have full legal backing to shut our mouths,” the source said. “Its purpose is to divide the world into good people and bad people, and we are of course the bad ones.”

Not a 'transfer of Jews'

The army said the report was just a recommendation, not an official military decree.

To make it easier on the settlers, troops should conduct ceremonies for them to allow them to bid farewell to their settlements and make it clear that whoever would attempt to harm soldiers would “pay a heavy price,” Sasson said.

She also said the army should reiterate to the settlers the legality of the plan, which has been approved by Sharon’s government, and emphasize that it does not constitute the “transfer of Jews,” as right-wingers have stated.

“The evacuation of settlements means moving a population against its will, but into their own country, not a foreign nation,” Sasson said.