Settler teens at Inbalim
Photo: Reuters
Monday night: Settler teens man new outposts
West Bank Jews plan to complete building of 11 illegal outposts before Mitchell-Netanyahu meeting; settler says evacuation of outposts by security forces 'political act meant to appease Americans'
In response to Washington's demand that Israel halt all construction in the West Bank, Jewish settlers are planning to complete the establishment of 11 new illegal outposts ahead of Monday morning's scheduled meeting between US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israeli Right
1,000 rightists protesting demand to halt settlement construction march towards US Consulate, call for Special Mideast envoy Mitchell to 'go home'; yeshiva head: Era when Jews were banned from living in different places has ended
Dozens of settlers, mainly teenagers, are staying at a number of outposts that were erected on Sunday.
Several dozen members of the Land of Israel Faithful and the Youth for the Land of Israel organizations arrived at the Inbalim outpost on Sunday, set up a tent and began constructing a stone structure. Security forces evacuated the rightists and dismantled the tent. About 25 teens returned to the site at night fall, saying they planned on expanding the outpost on Monday.
Also Sunday, about 10 settlers attempted to rebuild the Netzer outpost, which has been evacuated a number of times in the past. Police arrested one settler for entering a closed military zone and detained two others for questioning.
"(The evacuation) was a purely political act meant to appease the Americans," one settler told Ynet. "Jews can build anywhere they please."
Monday evening saw some 1,000 right-wing activists march from Jerusalem's Paris Square to the US Consulate in protest of the Obama administration's demand to freeze building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Yesha Council Director-General Pinchas Wallerstein said during the rally, "This week American pressure reached new highs that are a shame to democratic societies. We are brought here by America's treatment of Israel as if it were a banana republic and its willingness to abandon us in order to gain the support of public opinion within the Islamic world."
Yesha Council Chairman Danny Dayan added, "We are here to call on the government to fend off US pressure to halt construction in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem. Not one construction plan has been approved since the inception of Netanyahu's government, yet the bulldozers are being readied to raze outposts."
