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| By Israel Insider staff and partners March 30, 2005 |
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Jewish settlers should voluntarily hand over their weapons ahead of the planned Gaza withdrawal this summer, a leading pro-settlement politician proposed Wednesday, saying he fears confrontations with Israeli troops over the dismantling of Gaza settlements will otherwise turn bloody.
The proposal by right-wing lawmaker Effie Eitam marked the first time a settler leader acknowledged the potential violent resistance during the withdrawal. Eitam and another prominent settler, Bentsi Lieberman, said troops should also be barred from carrying firearms at the time.
Both said they hoped to negotiate an agreement on banning weapons with the Israeli police minister.
The debate over weapons came a day after Israel's parliament removed the last legislative obstacle to the withdrawal, passing the state budget by a vote of 58-36 and saving Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government from collapse. Had the budget not passed by Thursday, Sharon would have had to resign, undermining prospects for the withdrawal. Parliamentary opponents of the pullout, even in Sharon's own party, voted against the budget with that goal in mind. But Sharon pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in special spending to three parties to gain their votes, ensuring a majority.
With the last hurdle cleared, fears are growing that some settlers could resort to violence in a final attempt to thwart the evacuation, set for July.
Many Jewish residents of Gaza and the West Bank are armed, and settler leaders have warned that small numbers of extremists could be planning to fire on authorities. Eitam also raised the possibility that jittery policemen or soldiers could open fire first and set off a gun battle.
He said troops should first agree not to carry firearms.
"Then we will also ask the settler community to freely give up their weapons several days before the (evacuation) so that all of us can enter this struggle with clean hands, and that it will be limited to what can be done democratically," Eitam told Israel Army Radio.
Lieberman, head of the Yesha Settlers' Council, said settlers should store their weapons at home, instead of carrying them when troops arrive to remove them from their homes. "The area of the expulsion has to be sterile," he said. "How to do this? This can be decided through discussions with the security authorities."
The AP contributed to this report.
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