Some settlers upset at Yesha Council's Pinchas Wallerstein
צילום: גיל יוחנן
Activists, settler leaders at odds
Rightist activists in Amona upset at Yesha Council for turning to High Court instead of fighting evacuation
Tensions among settlers: Right-wing settler activists are increasingly upset with the Yesha Council over what they perceive as settler leaders' soft stance in the face of the evacuation of the illegal West Bank outpost of Amona.
Yesha Council leaders earlier turned to the High Court of Justice and secured an injunction against the demolition of permanent structures in Amona, but not all settlers are pleased with the move.
Wednesday morning, some settlers gathered around Yesha Council leader Pinchas Wallerstein and yelled out "this will not be another Kfar Maimon," a reference to a standoff between settlers and security forces ahead of the Gaza disengagement that ended after settler leaders instructed protesters to turn back.
'Another capitulation'
Settlers in Amona first reacted with joy to the news of the court injunction against the evacuation, but the atmosphere quickly turned into anger, after some activists said settler leaders were again caving in.
"We should have had a struggle here, rather than turning to the High Court," one settler said.
"We arrived here for a difficult, determined struggle, to fight for our country," another activist said. "We've been here for three days, in the cold, and here comes the Yesha Council and petitions the High Court. In our view, this is another capitulation. Now there's no struggle, and at the end the houses will be demolished, this time by settlers who will come and demolish them."
Meanwhile, a group of the so-called "hilltop youth" right-wing activists left the site earlier after realizing the Yesha Council was taking over.
"If the Yesha Council is here, we have nothing to do here. The battle is lost," one youth said.
At this time, the big question in Amona is whether the older generation will be able to contain the situation, or will younger activists ignore the instructions of the leadership and continue the struggle independently, as some settlers did during the disengagement.
