Around 15,000 people attended an anti-pullout rally in the slated for evacuation West Bank settlement of Homesh on Thursday.
During the rally, the police confiscated leaflets calling on Israeli soldiers to refuse orders to evacuate settlements.
MK Aryeh Eldad, who called Wednesday for mass civil disobedience to block the pullout plan, told protesters on Thursday that he would agree to have his parliamentary immunity lifted in order to stand trial, if Israeli Attorney General asks the Knesset to do so.
Earlier on Thursday a score of Knesset members asked Israeli Attorny General to open an investigation against Eldad on suspicion of sedition.
MK calls for paralyzing the nation, if settlers are blocked
Israeli MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) called Wednesday thousands of pullout opponents, who rallied at the Gosh Katif settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip, to resort to civil disobedience as a way to block the implementation of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s disengagement plan.
‘If they [settlers] can’t move freely in Gush Katif, then the entire country will be blocked and paralyzed,’ Eldad said.
‘I call for civil disobedience that involves readiness to be imprisoned.’ He added.
Settlers’ council leaders called protesters to disobey police and army closure orders to areas slated for evacuation.
One week ahead of the actual evacuation, Police and army are planning to seal the Gaza Strip and the Northern West Bank to prevent thousands of protesters from joining settlers.
‘If it is decided to impose a siege on Gush Katif and northern Samaria [the West Bank], we will break the siege in every way, but not by force,’ said Bentzi Lieberman, a settles’ council leader.
While settlers predicted that 100,000 protestors will join the Gosh Katif Rally, police estimates that around 40,000 took part in the protest rally.
Anti-pullout rally in Gush Katif settlement on Wednesday
Opponents of Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s disengagement plan are preparing for a strength show rally in the Gaza Strip settlement of Gush Katif.
Setters’ council (Yesha) hired 600 buses to help move thousands of protesters to the Palestinian Strip.
Settler leaders are hoping for a massive rally to convince the government that it will be impossible to go ahead with the withdrawal.
‘If 100,000 people come, the prime minister and his plan will have a problem,’ said Itzik Iliya, deputy council chief in the Gaza Coast settlements.
‘Every politician will have to take into account the meaning of the numbers who arrive in Gush Katif.’ Settlers’ council leader Pinchas Wallerstein said.
