Bassi: Pullout important decision for Israel
Photo: Alex Kolomoisky
2,000 housing solutions prepared
Photo: Gadi Kabalo
‘Most will leave voluntarily’
As many as 80 percent of settlers slated for evacuation to depart voluntarily, Disengagement Authority Head Yonatan Bassi tells Ynetnews. Pullout is not about bringing peace, but rather, ensuring Israel remains Jewish country, he says
(VIDEO) The majority of Gaza Strip and northern West Bank evacuees - as many as 80 percent - will be leaving their homes voluntarily, Disengagement Authority Head Yonatan Bassi estimated in a special interview with Ynetnews Thursday.
“I think it’s a job that you can’t succeed in,” he said. “If people will go from their homes crying and shouting…although they left and from my point of view it will be a success, I will cry with them. I told my staff in the beginning, nine months ago, that I don’t see any situation in which we can say we succeeded.”
According to Bassi, approximately 1,000 of the 1,700 families slated for evacuation have already applied for compensation, but he stressed the figures did not tell the whole story.
“The important point…is the question of who will remain after the 15th of August (the official disengagement start date.),” he said. “I think most of them don’t know until now what they’ll do 2-3 weeks from now, but if I try to sum up all I heard in the last 2-3 weeks, approximately 70 percent, or even more, 80 percent of the families will leave before the 15th plus 48 hours after.”
Bassi said the Authority has undertaken extensive efforts to prepare for the pullout and noted more than 2,000 housing solutions hare already been prepared. However, he conceded that not all settlers are satisfied with the options offered to them and noted that some families are having difficulties adjusting to smaller living quarters.
‘It’s a job you can’t succeed in’
Still, the Authority head said he hopes things will be looking better soon.
“I hope that let’s say in a month from now you’ll see that things…are less horrible than they (settlers) are trying to describe now,” he said.
Bassi also spoke of the personal difficulties inherent in his position and said matters have not been easy for his family, and particularly for his grandson and granddaughter. Still, he said he has no regrets about taking up the job.
“When you decide you’re doing an important thing and you are in the right place you can’t hesitate,” he said.
However, the top disengagement official also admitted the job he has been tasked with is one where success could be difficult to define.
Pullout Nearing
By Shmulik Hadad
Former settlers arrive in newly built city of 'caravillas' in Negev region with mixed feelings. Evacuee: The past year hasn’t been easy, especially the last few months. We came to Nisanit from the United States, just to give you a picture of the move we made
‘Not a question of peace or war’
Responding to a question from Ynetnews reader Edward Singer, who wondered whether Bassi thought the pullout would bring peace in light of the recent spurt of Palestinian violence in Gaza, the Disengagement Authority head said the question was not one of peace or war.
“The question is whether we want to remain a Jewish country,” he said, and added that if the country continued on the same path it has taken in the past 30 years “we will be the minority here in Israel.”
Overall, Bassi said, although the pullout is a very difficult step, it also marks an important decision for the State of Israel.
“I think even if it will not push ahead let’s say a peace process, for the future of Israel this is the most important thing done in the last generation,” he said. “I hope I’ll be judged by the people of Israel as one who did a very complicated thing, first of all for the future of Israel.”
