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Amona activists were intimidated by mounted police. (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners February 9, 2006 |
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| Mounted police also trampled and crushed protesters. (AP) |
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Israeli nationalists on Wednesday scored a major victory when the Knesset approved a proposal to form a parliamentary inquiry committee to investigate the violent evacuation earlier this month of nine structures built in the unauthorized outpost of Amona.
The proposal passed by a vote of 37 to 32. MKs from Likud, NRP, National Union and ultra-Orthodox parties voted in favor. MKs from Kadima, Labor, Meretz and the Arab parties opposed the inquiry.
Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz attended the vote. It was Olmert's first parliamentary defeat since he ascended to the throne of acting prime minister after Ariel Sharon's massive stroke on January 4.
Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu told Ynet Wednesday evening that the commission of inquiry should focus on political responsibility for the events, "The political echelon is the one responsible and it cannot evade responsibility. This is why it should stand at the heart of the investigation, not the police," he said.
According to Netanyahu, "the law should be respected and criminals must be punished in all severity, but it's obvious there was no use of excessive force. There was eagerness on the part of the protesters to create a confrontation."
"The intention is that this inquiry committee will concentrate on politicians, not policemen. The policemen did their job and the political rank sent in them without attempting to engage in dialogue first and solve the problem," he added.
Meanwhile, ynet reported that Kadima members slammed the Likud leader for his latest recent statements. "As always, Bibi acts first and thinks later. Only at the end does he realize the serious implications of his actions. This time he directed an unforgivable attack at the security forces in a desperate attempt to buy the extreme Right's vote," a Kadima source said.
Olmert expressed strong opposition to an inquiry into the Amona incident, where more than 200 people, most of them civilians, were injured during clashes between nationalists and police and army forces.
The Knesset plenum decision now requires approval of the Knesset committee, which must determine the composition of the inquiry committee and the scope of its work.
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said that if the Knesset committee does not approve the proposal during the plenum's current mandate, there will need to be a re-vote on the proposal after the March 28 elections.
Israel's nationalist parties and activists have focused on what they documented as extreme police brutality during the evacuation, accusing Olmert of ordering the evacuation of the nine houses for political reasons, refusing violence-averting compromises, and encouraging or directing brutal behavior by the expulsion forces.
The High Court of Justice last year ordered the government to evacuate 15 unauthorized outposts in the West Bank by February 15, but the government refused to use the full time and rejected all proposals to relocate or dismantle the homes before the deadline.
Although police officials said in reaction that they would "respect any decision made on the issue," the Knesset's decision surprised and irked many of the policemen who took part in the evacuation.
"This is a dangerous message: politicians abandon us for political interests. This endangers Israel's and the law enforcement's strength. What will the next evacuation look like? The next missions? How will the police act on the ground?" an unnamed official quoted by Haaretz asked.
National Religious MK Shaul Yahalom, who initiated the vote, said that the Knesset has spoken. The awful and undemocratic things that were done in Amona will be investigated, he said. "We expect the committee to reveal who gave the order to use violence in the first stage," Yahalom said.
His colleague MK Zevulun Orlev (NRP) said that the investigation was required to ascertain who gave the order for the police to use "excessive force, including beating protestors in the head with batons and releasing horses into crowds, wounding those who were employing passive resistance as well as those who were not."
"Whoever is interested in investigating the behavior of the settlers, they should feel free to do so as well," Orlev added.
MK Effie Eitam (National Union), who suffered a head injury in Amona, said that only by the grace of Heaven were there no deaths as a result of the violence carried out by security forces. "The question of whether the events at Amona were the first chapter in a civil war or the brink of such events can only be answered through the establishment of an investigatory committee."
"An investigatory committee is not aimed at the police officer who hit me, or against the horse that trampled me," Eitam said. "The security establishment wanted a compromise, the Attorney General authorized such a move, and in my opinion there was one man who wanted this bloody spectacle," he said, gesturing toward Olmert.
"The responsibility lies with Ehud Olmert, with the acting prime minister," Likud MK Gideon Sa'ar said in the plenum, as quoted by Israel National News. "They announced that they were ready for a compromise -- did anyone speak with them? Did anyone listen to the military officials who asked why the place was not closed off earlier?" Sa'ar then turned to Olmert, sitting in the front row of the Knesset, demanding: "What are you afraid of? Why are you against allowing the Knesset to do its job and inspect the actions of the government? If everything was done legitimately -- you shouldn?t be afraid of an investigation!"
Sa'ar added that "Olmert's government was dealt a parliamentary defeat despite the zigzagging of Labor, which said it would support forming an inquiry committee but later backtracked." By virtue of the legislation, he said, "The Knesset has placed the parliamentary monitoring of the executive branch back on track."
A Labor official denied there had been any backtracking. "We never wanted an investigation launched against police," said MK Yuli Tamir (Labor). "The investigation has been twisted. The right investigation should be launched on why Ehud Olmert 'misplanned' the evacuation, causing such violence to happen, instead people are trying to target the police."
Housing and Agriculture Minister Ze'ev Boim said that the decision was marred by cheap pre-election politics. "It's a shame that the security forces are the victim of instincts for political survival from the right and left," he said.
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