Peretz - wants plans drawn up soon
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Illegal outpost
Photo: Amit Shabi
Peretz to IDF: Show me plans to evacuate outposts
Defense minister orders all illegal structures in West Bank, both Jewish and Arab, to be demolished; wants plans drawn up in near future for evacuation of illegal outposts
The topic of illegal outposts makes a comeback on Defense Minister Amir Peretz's agenda. In a meeting held Thursday evening in his Kirya office in Tel Aviv, attended by representatives from the IDF and Ministry of Defense, Peretz ordered the implementation of the directive to demolish illegal structures in the West Bank.
Peretz has already signed a order to demolish the structures in question, which belong to both Jews and Arabs. The demolitions are set to begin in the following days but the real news from Thursday's meeting, which was attended by Maj. Gen. Yair Neveh, head of the Central Command, is that Peretz ordered the preparation of operational plans in the near future illustrating the process of evacuating the illegal outposts.
The issue, which was on the agenda prior to the war in Lebanon and was already in advanced planning stages but put on hold as the military's focus shifted northward, is now returning to the top of the priority list.
IDF sources say that the obvious preference is for the outposts to evacuate willingly without friction or potential violence. Despite this however, plans will made detailing a forced evacuation and presented to the Minister of Defense soon.
The country's security forces intend to implement the evacuation of the outposts before long, this after Peretz declared that this is one of the most important tasks at hand shortly after being appointed Defense Minister. Now, after the last war in Lebanon, it would appear that the IDF and other security forces are soon engaging the issue.
