MKs Vilnai and Avital to present draft of ‘voluntary evacuation-compensation’ law Wednesday, offering compensation deal to West Bank settlers wishing to leave now rather than be at mercy of waiting for government legislation on the matter
MK Avshalom Vilan (Meretz) and MK Colette Avital (Labor) will present a draft of the “Voluntary evacuation-compensation” bill Wednesday, signed so far by 20 additional lawmakers.
The law is intended to provide a framework by which settlers living in West Bank communities excluded from the fence can move out of their homes already now in return for financial compensation – without having to wait for the implementation of the Convergence plan or diplomacy b
Orange Protest
Settlers prepare for next battle / Efrat Weiss
Yesha Council leaders meet Monday to discuss plans to thwart withdrawals planned by Olmert
etween Israel and the Palestinians regarding a permanent arrangement.
At the same time, the Knesset members sent a letter to Justice Minister Haim Ramon (Kadima) demanding that the ministerial Law Committee recommend the government support the law.
According to Vilan and Avital, the law was born in response to “many appeals from settlers in Judea and Samaria living in settlements outside the fence perimeter.”
Roughly a year ago, the two assumed leadership of the newly established “One Home” movement with the aim to aid those settlers wishing to move back inside the Green Line without having to wait like hostages outside the fence until the government approved another unilateral withdrawal or made contacts with the Palestinians towards reaching a permanent agreement.
The movement directed a public relations campaign to get the voluntary evacuation-compensation law passed, which will “fairly allow residents to deal with the impossible reality created as a result of the government’s decisions on the fences," according to its claims. "In contrast to settlements on the west side of the separation fence that will be rewarded with maximum security, many West Bank settlements will be exposed to Palestinian terrorism and their residents with lose their basic ability to lead normal lives.”
“The government, which for years encouraged its citizens to move to these settlements, is now abandoning some 80,000 people as hostages without offering them an alternative that will ensure their financial future and security,” the One Home movement explains. “This impossible situation has brought a group of public figures and civilians to initiate a public process which will ensure the futures of tens of thousands of Israeli citizens left vulnerable on the east side of the fence.”
On their website, the group emphasizes that the law does not call for the evacuation of settlements, but rather calls to moderate a “future insurance certificate” for settlers in case the government decides on such a course of action.
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