JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said
Tuesday he would prefer to keep settler homes intact rather than demolish them in the framework of the disengagement plan.
During a meeting of cabinet ministers on the future of the Gush Katif settlers' homes, Sharon said, “Ideally, I would like to leave the homes where they are.“
“This is a preliminary debate before the government debate because I wanted to hear different positions, so I may reach a final decision,” he said.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said, “The defense establishment prefers not to demolish in Gaza,” and Minister-without-Portfolio Haim Ramon added that home demolitions would cost millions of shekels.
The proposal crafted at the high-level meeting is to be debated and approved by the government in the coming weeks.
The government had decided in the past to demolish settler homes in the framework of the disengagement plan; Justice Minister Tzipi Livni is opposed to any change in the policy.
In January, however, officials publicly recommended against the house demolition decision, as they claimed no Israeli interest would be served by it.
Public versus officials
Ynet was informed that the report – the joint work of military, police and government officials – raised a number of objections regarding the demolition plan.
From nearly every aspect - legal, economic, and environmental, it was better to leave the houses standing, the report said.
Weighing in against these considerations were the public’s feelings and the fear that terrorists would celebrate on the former houses of settlers.
Disengagement Office Head Yonatan Bassi told
the prime minister “most settlers support house demolition.”
Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that leaving the settlers’ homes intact “would be used as a great moral victory for the Palestinians … We have to prevent a situation in which Palestinian murderers will inherit the homes of their victims, dancing on the rooftops, waiving Hamas and (Islamic) Jihad flags.”
Later senior defense establishment officials also argued against demolishing homes following the pullout, in favor of transferring them to the Palestinians.
In a meeting held at Mofaz’s office, the officials determined synagogues, cemeteries and IDF posts would be moved to Israel.
Sharon ordered security personnel and civilian organizations involved in planning the disengagement to speak with every settler family regarding the removal of graves from Gush Katif.
There are 47 graves in Gush Katif.
Livni’s plan
Late Monday night, settlers met with Justice Minister Livni for four hours to discuss housing solutions for Gaza evacuees. Livni recommended the settlers accept the Nitzanim Plan, which would receive public funding.
According to the plan, four communities would be set up in the area of Niztanim, north of the coastal city of Ashkelon.
Once the population reached a minimum of 10,000 residents, the settlers could declare the area a regional council.
The government also offered to build 1,000 housing units in the area and an additional 400 in the southern section of Nitzan.
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