PM aide: Will deal with outposts after pullout

Senior Advisor to the Israeli Prime Minsiter Ariel Sharon said Israel will deal with the evacuation of the unauthorized settlement outposts after the implementation of the disengagement plan.

In a speech at Tel Aviv University on the disengagement and national security on Thursday, Dov Weissglas said that given the situation in which currently finds itself and the public mood, any attempt to evacuate unauthorized outposts could well present a ‘very difficult test for us and the security forces.’

He seemed to be confident of the backing of in its stance on the outposts.

 

Weissglass added that there was no misunderstanding between Washington and Jerusalem on the issue.

Weissglass also said that in the long-run it is unrealistic to keep the settlement Gaza Strip because they will be totally inside a Palestinian controlled area.

‘Even for those who the love of the land of Israel is of supreme value cannot believe that in the long run there could be real settlement and quality of life in three tiny pockets surrounded by an ocean of Arabs .’

Apparently, did not have a strategic interest in the Gaza Strip as it has in the West Bank .

‘Every trip by settlers to see the dentist in had become a military operation. Our decision to leave the area was down to the long-term view that it was not in our national interests [to remain], unlike Judea and Samaria [the West Bank ].’ Weissglass stated.

Addressing the issue of the home-made Qassam shells, which were often fired from the Gaza Strip at southern Israeli areas and settlements, Weissglass said these ‘flying objects’ did not present a threat to national security.

 

 

In the past couple of years, Israeli army demolished several houses, bulldozed wide areas of land and assassinated scores of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip claiming that it is trying to stop the resistance groups from firing Qassam shells at Israeli targets.