Peace Now vs. Yesha Jews
Peace Now vs. Yesha JewsIsrael news photo: (file)

Land of Israel groups traded harsh accusations with Peace Now on Friday morning after Peace Now head Yariv Oppenheimer accused them of criminal activity. Oppenheimer asked Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to investigate Jewish groups in Judea and Samaria that support the construction of new Jewish communities – an activity that according to Oppenheimer is a serious criminal offense.

"The hilltop youth's games of cat and mouse cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of shekels,” Oppenheimer charged, referring to fledgling communities where Jewish activists run from police who come to destroy their homes, only to return and rebuild hours later.

"If the lawbreakers are not forced to bear the consequences of their actions, the 'outpost' phenomenon will only grow,” he continued. He called on Mazuz to charge the Land of Israel Faithful and Youth for the Land of Israel in particular, accusing both groups of encouraging Jews to build new communities in Judea and Samaria without government authorization.

A variety of pro-Yesha (Judea and Samaria) groups responded to Oppenheimer. Two of them, Homesh First and the Yesha Council, said Peace Now should be the one under investigation.

"The Peace Now gang is drunk with power, leading them to confuse the attorney general with a European Union official who they can approach with their spiteful complaints,” said leaders of Homesh First, a group that calls to resettle northern Samaria and other areas from which Jews were forcibly removed in the 2005 “Disengagement.”

"Maybe they are the ones who should be tried, for harassing a senior public official,” they suggested.

The Yesha Council called for a criminal investigation into Peace Now's funding and motivation. “The group 'Peace Now' gets funding from foreign governments, some of which are hostile to the state of Israel, in order to undermine the Zionist settlement project in Judea and Samaria and other Israeli interests,” council members said.

'Their Day will Come'

Other organizations, including the Women in Green, the Committee for a Jewish Shdema, and the Action Committees of Efrat, Gush Etzion, Kiryat Arba and Hevron refrained from suggesting criminal charges against Peace Now, but warned the group that someday they would be called to justice.

"The traitorous members of Peace Now, who collaborate with the Arab enemy and are funded by international anti-Semites, will not win: We will continue to settle the entire land of Israel, our adults and youth together. The day will come when Peace Now members will be on trial for treason and collaboration with the Arab enemy,” the groups warned.

The message was sent from Shdema, where land of Israel organizations have held weekly Friday events to strengthen the Jewish presence in the area. The Olmert government hoped to turn the strategic Shdema area, which overlooks the Jerusalem-Gush Etzion highway, into a new city for Palestinian Authority Arabs; Jews hope to use the area for a Jewish city instead.