Leaders of the Yesha Council of settlements met on Monday to discuss what was described as “thwarting withdrawals” planned by the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, and to discuss the future of settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The leaders also discussed the settler approach to the new government in Israel in an attempt to thwart any future withdrawals from the settlements.
Benyamin Regional Council Head, Pinchas Wallerstein, who on the eve of the Gaza disengagement called on objectors to "violate the law and go to jail", told the Israeli Ynetnews that the settlers discussed the new government’s position, the expected dates for the removal of illegal settlement outposts, and Olmert’s “convergence plan” for further West Bank pullouts.
Settlers leaders decided to “use the expertise of an outside consultant” to order to formulate their upcoming moves against withdrawals from the West Bank after they failed to thwart th Gaza and northern West Bank disengagement plan carried by then-prime minister, Ariel Sharon.
Wallerstein said that the settlers council will not be ready to hold talks with the government regarding evacuation of settlements and illegal outposts, but the council will hold talks only “if it is convinced that the government wants dialog regarding arrangements for the outposts”.
He added that the illegal outposts are an "integral part of the West Bank communities (Jewish settlements built on Palestinian annexed lands)", and that the former Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, did not adopt the entire report on the matter prepared by attorney Talia Sasson regarding the West Bank illegal outpost. He also said that Sharon did not speak about the removal of more than 100 of the illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank.
