Defense Ministry: 5 illegal outposts to be evacuated
A brief prepared by ministry says its reps, settlers' leaders have negotiated evacuation of five illegal outposts which will be integrated into existing settlements blocs
A Defense Ministry document sent to the Sate Prosecutor's Office revealed Wednesday that five illegal outposts will be evacuated within weeks, following an agreement between the settlers and the government.
One of the five outposts will be Migron. The names of the other four have not been made public since the Defense Ministry fears those objecting to the evacuation may try to torpedo the move.
The ministry revealed the information as part of the State Prosecutor's Office review of a petition filed by Peace Now against Defense Minister Ehud Barak and several others in the ministry.
The negotiations between the Defense Ministry and the settlers regarding the five outposts mentioned, began prior to US president Gorge W. Bush's visit in Israel in January, when it asked to demonstrate goodwill in the form of settlement evacuations.
The move failed at the time, but the negotiations continued, eventually materializing to the agreement at hand.
The Defense Ministry, along with representatives from the soon-to-be evacuated settlements has begun looking into the possibility of relocating Migron to the Matte Binyamin Regional Council; as well as looking for alternative locations for the other four settlements.
A difficult negotiation
The defense establishment said that Barak is determined to evacuate 26 illegal outposts formed after March 2001, preferably without any altercation with the settlers.
The newly formed agreement will facilitate the evacuation, relocating the outposts into existing settlement blocs, while also allowing for more construction to take place within the blocs' existing limits.
"As we have previously informed the court, the Defense Ministry is trying to find a solution to the matter and is meeting with the settlers' leaders to that end," Ahaz Ben-Ari, legal counsel to the ministry, wrote in the document.
The ministry further asked the Sate Prosecutor's Office to prolong the existing delimitation warrants issued against the illegal outposts mentioned in the document for 12 additional months – the period of time in which Barak hopes to resolve the situation of all 26 outposts.
"These are not false promises but the result of a difficult negotiation and an agreement reached with the settlers' leaders," a diplomatic source told Ynet.
"We want to find a way for a consensual evacuation, to avoid another Amona if we can… This has nothing to do with American pressure. We feel this is first and foremost a demand made by the State of its citizens – to uphold the law."
The Bush administration sees the evacuation of illegal outposts as a priority, necessary in order to implement the first stage of the Road Map peace plan.
