No plan for dealing with evacuees (Photo: Dudi Vaaknin)
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Former official slams Gaza pullout preparations
Former official in Sharon government says top brass had no clear plan for dealing with Gaza Strip evacuees; financial handling of Gush Katif residents 'scandalous,' he says, warns of deeper rift in case of future evacuations
Top government officials failed to prepare the Gaza disengagement properly, and in fact had no clear plan for dealing with Gush Katif evacuees, a former senior official says.
Ex-Prime Minister's Office Director General Avigdor Yitzhaki characterized the financial handling of evacuees as "scandalous," during his appearance Tuesday before the commission of inquiry into the handling of former Gaza residents.
No plan for dealing with evacuees (Photo: Dudi Vaaknin)
Yitzhaki served under Ariel Sharon until May 2004. He told commission members that "there was no preparation work ahead of the disengagement" at the time of his departure.
"I hoped these things wouldn't happen," he said. "I objected to the disengagement to begin with."
'State always pays too much'
The former official said that he attempted to convince the Treasury to hand over one million dollars to each evacuated family personally, rather than to compensate groups of families."The State of Israel's plan is always to pay three times what it could have paid; to my regret it happened that time too," he said.
Yitzhaki characterized the financial handling of the evacuees as "scandalous," arguing that the issue should have been addressed in a similar manner to a war, thereby allowing the government to earmark the necessary funds.
"During the Second Lebanon War or Operation Cast Lead they found a budgetary solution," he said. "Here too it was possible to find a solution."
Addressing the prospect of future evacuations in the West Bank, Yitzhaki warned: "We need to formulate, today already, an evacuation-compensation law…this is something that motivates people. Otherwise, the rift will be much much deeper than it is now."
