Olmert. 'What is illegal must be evacuated'
Photo: AP
Oppenheimer. 'More outposts to be targeted'
'Extreme right – Jewish Hamas'
Following violent evacuation of illegal West Bank outpost, Acting prime minister's associates voice radical opinions against extreme right, imply additional evacuations to be expected in near future
Following the violent clashes that erupted during the evacuation of the illegal West Bank outpost of Amona Wednesday, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's aides voiced radical opinions against the extreme right Wednesday night.
The associate also rejected the claims that the Amona incidents aided Kadima and implied that additional evacuations of illegal outposts may be implemented in the near future.
Speaking to Ynet, one of Olmert's associates compared the extreme right to a "Jewish Hamas."
"The spokespeople of the extreme right, which is the Jewish Hamas, are trying to delegitimize Ehud Olmert through the incidents in Amona," the aide said.
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"There is a legal decision to evacuate two other illegal outposts, the 725 outpost and the Sakali hill. What is illegal is illegal, and no other order is needed. We must evacuate it," the aide said.
"It has nothing to do with the elections or anything else. If there is a decision to evacuate, then it must be done, even if it doesn't help the campaign. It's better to have peace now, but a decision is a decision," he added.
Senior officials at Kadima's election headquarters harshly blasted Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that "out of all the politicians, there is one from whom we haven’t heard – (Prime Minister) Ariel Sharon's successor, the man who strongly fights against Hamas."
An official added that "we did not hear anything from Netanyahu today. Not if he is in favor of what happened, and not if he is against it."
Olmert himself said Wednesday afternoon that "those who resisted the security forces simply acted violently. This is a phenomenon that cannot continue or be accepted. When bricks are thrown at the heads of soldiers and police officers, a line has clearly been crossed."
"This is reaching a scope we haven't seen before. This was an organized activity on the part of the settlers for political ends. The State of Israel will not tolerate it," he added.
Seventy out of the 219 police officers and right-wing activists who were injured during the clashes were still hospitalized Wednesday night. The condition of a youth who took part in the clashes remained serious, while the condition of another person injured was defined as moderate. The rest of the people injured sustained light wounds
Peace Now: Other outposts must be evacuated
The Peace Now movement is waiting for the State's reply to a petition filed to the High Court of Justice about five months ago in a demand to enforce demolition orders issued against the outposts of Harasha and Hayovel.
There are 17 permanent structures at the Hayovel outpost, and demolition orders have been issued against all of them three years ago. Demolition orders have also been issued against six permanent structures at the Harasha outpost.
The Amona evacuation was largely the result of Peace Now's activity. In a reply to a petition filed by the movement, the State declared that it plans to evacuate the outpost, a declaration which led to Wednesday's violent clashes.
Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer told Ynet on Wednesday that his movement was closely following the government's activities.
"If the government does not evacuate outposts on its own initiative, there are a few more with which we will deal by filing petitions," he said.
Dror Atkas, Peace Now's settlement coordinator, continues to photograph and collect evidence at illegal outposts, which will serve as the basis for future petitions.
Oppenheimer knows, however, that according to the Sasson Report there are 105 illegal outposts which the State must evacuate, and that the High Court would be unable to deliberate on 105 petitions, since each deliberation may last for at least a few months.
"I believe that using legal tools is a limited matter. If we want to solve the outpost problem from its root, it is only a government decision and not the High Court's decision," Atkas said.
"But as long as the government does not do it, we will continue to turn to the court. It is not even Peace Now's job to enforce the law, but the government's job, and we are not pleased that we have to bring such problematic situations to the court. On the other hand, the legal system is the only one that in fact constitutes an effective tool which proves that it can cause the government to evacuate outposts," he added.
And is the evacuation of a number of permanent structures from remote hills worth the violent scenes witnessed during Wednesday's evacuation? Oppenheimer believes that there is no other way.
"I regret the violence that took place there today, on the part of all parties. But this is the result of year-long neglect of the rule of law in the territories by governments. An entire group of youths are educated to be a youth of pogroms," he said.
"This problem must be solved once and for all," Oppenheimer concluded.
Tal Rosner and Meital Yasur Beit-Or contributed to the report
