The settlers of Teneh Omarim settlement requested the opportunity to leave their settlement under the terms of the compensation law passed to cover the disengagement plan from the Gaza Strip and four northern West Bank settlements, Israeli sources said on Tuesday.
Residents told the Israel Radio that at least 80 percent of the settlers there have signed a letter to the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon asking for compensation if they leave voluntarily, the source said.
Apparently, most of the 85 settler family there, believe their settlement will be removed sooner or later, since it is located on the Palestinian side of the separation wall Israel is building on the West Bank land.
Eliezer Weider, one of the settlers in Teneh Omarim said there are 25 houses that are already empty. Those settlers who want to sell can not find buyers due to the bad situation in the settlement, said Weider.
However, Israeli officials, including Sharon has repeatedly said there will be no second phase of disengagement.
Yet, Sharon and the military establishment in Israel envision that Israel will hold onto three large settlement blocs in the West Bank, none of which include Teneh Omarim.
The three large blocs are Gush Etzion between Bethlehem and Hebron, Ma’ale Adumim between Jerusalem and Jericho and Ariel settlement bloc between Salfit and Nablus in the West Bank.
U.S. President George W. Bush gave Sharon a green line to go on with his vision of keeping the large settlement blocs in their summit in Washington on April 14, 2004, although it contradicts the U.S.-backed Road Map peace plan for the Middle East.
The Road Map states that the establishment of a viable Palestinian state with territorial contiguity is a must, something that could be impossible with the presence of these three large settlement blocs Israel intends to annex to its territory.
