In a thinly veiled threat, MK Bezalel Smotrich took to the stand in the Knesset today to declare that the cost of dismantling Amona would be the coalition.
The town of Amona, in Samaria, was ruled illegal by the Supreme Court, and is slated to be destroyed this autumn. The state has offered the Amona residents a new location to rebuild their town, but they rejected it, and continue to protest the court decision.
After jibing the Left, and declaring Israel a nation of straight and honest behavior, Smotrich took a more serious tone: "This is not the behavior that talks about transferring Amona, you would think that a town is a Word document that can be 'copy-pasted,' take it from here, we'll put it there."
"You could look at the Gush Katif exile the same way, Mr. Knesset Speaker," Smotrich added, sarcasm dripping from every word, "Essentially all we did was "copy-paste" towns, we didn't do anything big."
In recent days, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit declared that there was no hope for Amona - all legal options have been exhausted. Smotrich disagrees: "This nation expects from us, from her leadership, to be strong, not to surrender. To be strong against...enemies, and to be strong against people who harm us from within...And this nation expects us to settle [the issue of] Amona because there is a legal solution, and if there is anyone who would [hinder the process], we have a Knesset sitting here who can pass a...law that would sort out Amona."
As his speech wound to a close, Smotrich framed his opinion in no uncertain terms: "If, God forbid, Amona will be dismantled, and it doesn't matter how they dress it up in fancy words, I am concerned that...this coalition, will not survive."