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Demonstrators protest against PM Sharon's disengagement at Bar Ilan University. Today. the PM said he disapproves of settler parents who allow their kids to participate in protests. (AP)
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| By Ynetnews June 8, 2005 |
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Speaking at the weekly meeting of the ministerial disengagement committee, Sharon said Gaza residents are "under non-stop pressure," but said 50 percent of residents have begun some form of consultation with the government regarding compensation.
"I want to say that the compensation money is waiting for them," Sharon said.
For the first time, the media were invited to cover the meeting, as the government attempted to rebut what it called a "wave of disinformation" spread by settlers who say no plans have been formalized just two months before the pullout is scheduled to begin.
Sources close to Sharon say the settlers simply reject all their proposals, so it is their fault that no progress has been made.
"We cannot provide the settlers with unilateral answers if they refuse to cooperate," Housing and Construction Ministry Director Shmuel Abuav said.
Housing Minister Yizhak Herzog said the settlers? strategy is meant to weaken public support for the disengagement program and to create weak-heartedness amongst the security forces, and despair and confusion in the government.
"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.
Sources in the prime minister?s office said that settlers have waged a "tendentious campaign, full of distortion, in order to prove that the government is not providing any solutions for them," in recent weeks.
The purpose of opening up Wednesday?s meeting was to show the government?s preparations for disengagement, and to rebut the settlers' claims.
During the committee?s meeting last week, Sharon said settlers who refuse to leave their homes willingly cannot be assured of receiving their first choice of temporary dwellings.
In practical terms, this means that any settler who has not notified the Disengagement Authority that he wants to relocate to Nitzanim will be required to rent an apartment in a city in the south until new homes can be built, thus requiring them to move twice.
"The country cannot build an unlimited number of buildings without assurances from the settlers. The most we can do I build temporary houses for them," Sharon said. ?Whoever signs up - great. If not - they will be entitled to rent an apartment until their permanent homes are read. There are enough existing apartments to fulfill this need."
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