As part of attempts to face the settlers’ anti-disengagement campaign, the Israeli government invited the media to its weekly meeting to, as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon puts it, “refute the disinformation,” by the pullout foes, Israeli sources reported.
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Sharon said, the Gaza settlers are “under non-stop pressure,’ and said this was the reason many people have failed to sign up for compensation.
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‘Registration has been slow,’ he said. ‘Fifty percent of the residents are in some consultation or another with us. I want to say that the compensation money is waiting for them.”
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Sharon also undermined the settlers’ plan to establish a tent city in the Negev.
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‘Of course, this is a political ploy. If they want to live in a tent camp, we are certainly not going to tell people where they have to live,’ he said. ‘I view this as a political action and attempt to derail the disengagement in any way possible.
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‘I say to the settlers – show some responsibility for your children! All of your actions to date have only increased your suffering.”
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The settlers claim the government is not ready for the pullout. This claim had Sharon to open the cabinet weekly meeting for the media.
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Sources close to Sharon blame the settlers for this lack of planning saying that the settelrs reject all government proposals.
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“We cannot provide the settlers with unilateral answers if they refuse to cooperate,” Housing and Construction Ministry Director Shmuel Abuav said.
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Housing Minister Yizhak Herzog said, “The settlers’ strategy is meant to break the base of public support for the (disengagement) program and to create weak heartedness amongst the security forces and despair and confusion in the government.
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 “The idea of today’s meeting is to strengthen the public’s belief in our ability to carry the disengagement out. The settlers will receive a package of attractive officers – if their representatives can manage to retain their composure, there is still time to close a deal,” he said.
