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Photo: Reuters
Searching for bridge: Acting prime minister Ehud Olmert
Photo: Reuters

Olmert seeks to bridge gaps with settlers

Associate of acting PM: 'We Must find a way to talk to the settlers'

Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is attempting to forge a path of compromise with embittered settlers, according to one of his associates.

 

"We must find a way to talkto the settlers," said an associate of Olmert.

 

The acting prime minister has definitely heard the voices of tens of thousands of right-wing demonstrators in Jerusalem's Zion square, who carried signs which read: "Olmert is bad for the Jews" and "Olmert is leading us to a civil war."

 

On Sunday, after hearing a survey by Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin, Olmert told minister: "There is a feeling of alienation among settlers, especially among the youths and teenagers. We don't want them to feel that they don't belong."

 

Earlier, Diskin briefed government ministers on the biographies of the rioters in Amona. “It was always comfortable for us to say ‘these are extremists,’ but they are no longer the extremists – they have become the center of the settler public. The people objecting to the evacuation of (West Bank) outposts hail the activists who participated in the Amona struggle as heroes. The motivation of the people there was to erase the shame of the Gush Katif evacuation and instill the message that they will not triumph with love, but with war and struggle," said the Shin Bet chief.

 

"We must isolate them” he added.

 

'Sights have disturbed me'

 

After the survey, Olmert with spoke in a more compromising manner, saying: "These sights and sounds have disturbed me… There's no doubt that an important part of dealing with the problem of alienation rests with political and religious leadership of the settlers. I will tell them that when we meet. But I am not excusing the government from carrying out productive dialogue between the sides. We will make an effort for such dialogue. The settlers are an important part of the Israeli public and it's important they feel that, while at the same time we will ensure that the laws and decisions of the government are upheld."

 

An associate of Olmert who is on the right-wing branch of Kadima said: "There's no doubt that this public does not feel well. Olmert is listening and examining, and he will find the way to talk to them… these were warning voices."

 

"Olmert has sharp political senses, and he understands that alongside the stern hand against those who violate the law, he must find the bridge to the hearts of tens of thousands of members of the orange camp who have reawaken, less than two months before elections."

 

It is doubtful, however, whether these messages will find attentive ears among the settlers, who appear to have declared a full divorce with the acting prime minister. Rabbi Elikayim Lebanon, of Alon More, told demonstrators in Jerusalem: "I blame Olmert for fanning the flames of hatred and for splitting the nation. We have no faith in this government."

 


פרסום ראשון: 02.06.06, 00:32
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