Posted on 01/03/2005 10:41:19 AM PST by Piranha
Police and soldiers Monday evening surprised a tiny community in Samaria and destroyed two trailer homes in a violent clash of stone throwing and gunshots with residents.
More than 500 security troops destroyed Givat Shalhevet, near Shechem and associated with the nearby community of Yitzhar. Police arrested 19 residents and protesters, including one woman who suffered a fractured hip and was hospitalized.
"I have been in all the evacuations here, but I've never seen anything as brutal," said Yitzhar's administrator Tzvi Berenstock. Police said the operation was kept secret, unlike previous attempts to dismantle the community which has been a source of constant friction between residents and security forces.
"If this is the model they intend to use to uproot (Jewish communities), they are sorely mistaken," said one of the protestors. "It is one thing to clear basically empty mobile homes and quiet another to uproot families, tearing them from home and work."
Police and army personnel used bulldozers to wreck two trailer homes at Givat Shalhevet, named after 10-month-old Shalhevet Pas was killed by an Arab terrorist in Hevron three years ago. Previously, security forces towed away mobile homes.
About 150 protestors were at the site even though there was no advance notice. "We kept the utmost secrecy this time," said police official Shlomo Sagi. Previously, residents were able to bring to 1,000 protestors when there was advance notice that police were about to try to dismantle the homes.
According to most eyewitnesses, a soldier opened fire when part of the crowd surrounded him as he tried to arrest a girl who allegedly tried to puncture tires of an army vehicle. Army spokesman said protestors had tried to take the soldier's weapon and he fired in self-defense.
Protestors cursed the security officials, two of whom were lightly injured when slipping on oil that residents had spread on the ground. Protestors threw stones at police, injuring one lightly. About 10 protestors were injured. One of those arrested was a soldier on leave.
However, Prime Minister Sharon repeatedly has refused to submit the policy to a national referendum, and instead has tried to force his policy through removal of government ministers who oppose his policies and other means.
What about the 67-45 vote backing Sharon's plan in October?
That was a Knesset vote approving the destruction of Jewish-owned homes in the West Bank and Gaza in concept only. The bill specifically said that before any Jewish residents are forced out the Knesset will have to vote again, taking into account the circumstances at the time.
There was considerable strong-arming by the Prime Minister in order to get this vote.
The bill specifically required further action by the Knesset before Jewish homes could be destroyed in order to force the Jews out. The reason for this requirement was a feeling, widespread among many Israelis, that a referendum or new elections would be necessary to validate implementation of the policy.
In the absence of an attempt to reach national consensus, Prime Minister Sharon's coalition is falling apart and it is not even certain that the Likud Party will renominate him as its candidate if there are new elections.
I fully expect Likud will not renominate the Prime Minister in spite of his huge personal popularity. Binyamin Netanyahu was a weak Prime Minister (even Arutz Sheva commented to that effect last week) and it is not at all clear he could win a new election. If anyone else who is anti-disengagement is nominated it is entirely likely that the next election will be won by Labor. Heck, it's even remotely possible that Shinui could will an election the way they have grown.
If the polls are credible -- which many people doubt -- then why is Prime Minister Sharon willing to risk his personal legacy, his political party's future and indeed the cohesiveness of his country on a stubborn refusal to put it to a vote?
I think, but cannot prove, that it's because he knows that the polls are bogus.
I don't think it's that the Prime Minister thinks the polls are bogus. Let me put it this way...
Prime Minister Peres had a huge lead over Binyamin Netanyahu in polls up until right before the 1996 election. Netanyahu's campaign was based on fear of what would happen if then Prime Minister Peres remained in charge of the peace process. We all know how that election turned out.
Were the polls wrong in 1996? No, I don't think so. They did show that Peres' lead was eroding pretty quickly. I think an effective campaign changed people's mind.
The Prime Minister is a very capable politician and a very effective campaigner unlike Shimon Peres. However, he also knows that there are some very effective people who do not share his views and will campaign in opposition to him. They have had some success before.
It's also a matter of keeping power in the office of the Prime Minister. There has never been a referendum on an issue that is up to the Prime Minister and/or his Cabinet and/or the Knesset before. Having such a referendum will have a major effect on the shape of Israeli politics and how future decisions are made.
I don't believe much in direct democracy. In a direct democracy the majority can vote the minority into boxcars and off to camp. This is why the United States government, for example, has checks and balances. There are no national referenda on issues. A representative, republican form of government, such as both the U.S. and Israel now have is better because of the limitations it places on true democracy. Those limitations protect the people. The elected representatives decide, not the masses.
I think the type of change such a national referendum would open the door to is a really bad idea.
You are ignoring the fact that Sharon won the last election promising not to unilaterally evacuate Gaza. That was the policy of his opponent who lost big. Sharon should require new elections over this change of policy, otherwise he is perpetrating a fraud on his nation.
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