Peace Now activists, escorted by left wing MKs, were blocked entry to the Emuna outpost on Tuesday by the IDF. The group had arrived in order to tour the “illegal construction” in the area.
The IDF hadbeen notified of the group’s intention to visit the site, and declared the area a closed military zone, allowing entry only to the MKs, in an effort to avoid friction between Peace Now activists and settlers.
The MKs involved in the incident were Amram Mitznah, Avhshalom Vilan, Zahava Galon, Yehudit Tamir, and Yossi Beilin. The group, which was notified of the area’s closure on route to the outpost, ran into a large group of settlers at the gates of the Ofra settlement.
As the MKs were busy making mobile phone calls to the army to try and grant entry to the Peace Now activists, settlers began calling out anti-disengagement slogans, including: “Jews don’t expel Jews,” and “policemen, soldiers, disobey orders.”
'An antidemocratic act'
MK Avshalom Vilan (Meretz-Yahad) told Ynet that IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz has promised to “check out the incident.”
Vilan said that the visit to Emuna had been coordinated with the authorities, and that there had been no reason to declare the area a closed military zone.
A statement released by Peace Now said, “The army is controlled by the settlers, who decide who should be allowed to enter settlements, and who should be barred."
"The conduct of the army at the entrance to Ofra was shameful for the State of Israel, and proves that the settlers are in control,” the statement said.
Yahad Chairman Yossi Beilin said, “This is not an innocent case of security considerations preventing a tour.”
“This is a serious incident in which the army gave in to demands made by settler leaders to forbid entry to Peace Now members, who organized the visit and were escorting the MKs," he said.
"It is an anti-democratic act, which proves once again that the monstrous settlers, whose movement was created by (Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon, have turned into the lords of the land.”
First published: 18:52, 07.05.5