Peretz. New political potential?
צילום: שי רוזנצוויג
Settlers: Ready to leave now
Settlers left outside the security fence route say they are willing to leave now if offered compensations. The government must decide on our matter, they say
The residents of the Ofarim settlement are willing to leave their houses promptly and move back into the Green Line boundaries, if they are offered compensations, some settlers say.
which has been built west to the settlement, leaving the community out of its perimeters. Many of the residents fear they will suffer terror attacks. Others complain about the slump in the quality of their lives caused by routine check ups conducted by IDF troops during entry and exit of the community.
In a meeting between Knesset Member Amir Peretz, a candidate for Labor party leadership and settlers Thursday, Peretz was told by one of the community's residents that "if we are offered to leave now in an organized manner, 80 percent of the people will choose to do so."
In wake of the disengagement, many of the people in the settlement, who define themselves as right-wing voters, now carry a different perspective on their own situation.
We do not want to find ourselves living in tents like the evacuees of the Gush Katif settlement of Elei Sinai, some said.
Currently, the settlers' main concern is the security fence,
עמיר פרץ נפגש עם מתנחלים (צילום: אמיר מורל)
"I cannot bare the fact that a 17-year-old soldier asks me for an ID whenever I leave my house or return. What will be next? Physical inspections?" one of the people of Ofarim said.
Another settler asked Peretz that he and his fellow politicians make an unequivocal decision regarding Ofarim. The government must decide what will happen to us, whether we will stay or leave, he said.
Looking for a new political home
The settlers also revealed to Peretz that following the pullout, their political convictions have been undermined, and said they are now more concerned with safeguarding their future and less sure of their past affiliations.
"Many of the settlements here are not ideologically motivated communities, people came here looking for quality of life," a settle said.
"We were disappointed by the Yesha council, and hurt by former Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policies, so there may be a political potential for you here," he told Peretz.
"I am a Likud man, but we are looking for someone to listen to us, for political patronage, no matter from which side," he concluded.
