Newly-erected outpost in West Bank
Photo: Sharon Katz
Poll: Israelis expect another pullout
Majority of settlers, general population believe recent Gaza evacuation was not the last; Left-wing MK: ‘Security fence, which left tens of thousands of families outside Israel’s future borders, deepened settlers’ plight
Some 70 percent of Israelis, including 64 percent of the settler population, believe there will be another pullout from West Bank settlements, a poll conducted by the One Nation movement showed.
Apparently, the public is not buying into Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s post-disengagement promises, according to which Israel will not evacuate any more settlements.
The general feeling is that while the recent disengagement was a painful step, it did achieve the government’s goals, and therefore the continuation of the evacuation process is inevitable.
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The poll also indicated that 35 percent of the settlers and 74 percent of the general population support the new Evacuation-Compensation bill, led by MKs Avshalom Vilan (Meretz-Yahad and the Democratic Choice) and Colette Avital (Labor). According to the bill, settlers will be able to leave their homes and move to alternate homes within the Green Line.
Government ignoring voices from West Bank
In stark contrast to the stubborn fight put up by the Gaza settlers last summer, the survey said that some 25 percent of West Bank settlers would be willing accept compensation fees and leave their current homes at once.
Five hundred settlers living beyond the West Bank security fence and 500 people who reside inside the Green Line participated in the poll.
Vilan said in response to the poll, “The security fence, which left tens of thousands of families outside Israel’s future borders, has deepened the settlers’ plight.”
Alon Pinkas, former Israeli consul-general in New York and a One Nation member, said, “it is clear that there will be another pullout from the West Bank; it is clear that it will take place prior to a permanent agreement; it is clear that it (pullout) will include the 80,000 settlers living outside the fence.”
“Therefore, the government must stop using the settlers as bargaining chips and hostages and allow them to evacuate their homes now,” he added.
MK Avital said that wile hundreds of families have already turned to One Nation to begin the evacuation-compensation process, “the government prefers to ignore the voices heard from the settlements. Eventually it will have to come up with an agreed-upon solution for them.”
One Nation was established to lead a public initiative aimed at introducing a law that would ensure the West Bank settlers’ future economic security so they may leave their homes immediately.
