The Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza (Yesha Council) will convene on Sunday to formulate its final position on the issue of the \"separation\" plan. Conventional wisdom is that the new barriers, which will separate the Arab-populated areas of Judea and Samaria from the rest of Israel, will have great diplomatic significance in that they will largely determine possible future borders. Several Council members, as well as MKs Yahalom (NRP) and Kleiner (Herut), object to the separation, citing the above ramifications on future political arrangements. In addition, Yahalom says that the separation will differentiate between Jews who live in Yesha and will be left \"behind\" the line, and those who live on the other side. \"Is the blood of Tel Aviv residents,\" Yahalom asked today, \"redder than those of people in Ariel?\"
Council Head Bentzy Lieberman, on the other hand, is in favor of the plan, but insists that it must be built in a way that differentiates it from the Green Line (the line separating Judea and Samaria from the rest of Israel). \"No one asked me whether or not to build this fence,\" he told Arutz-7 today. \"It is already being built. I have received a map of the planned fence, and it is up to us to submit changes... We must make it clear that the separation plan has no connection with future political developments. We are talking only about the security aspects, in the framework of the acute security problems faced by the area between Hadera and Afula... It should also be made clear that we are not talking about a physical partition, but rather a network of security arrangements, which includes various elements such as cameras, ditches, patrols, fences, etc. In any event, the army must certainly remain in all of Yesha in order to maintain security.\"
Council Head Bentzy Lieberman, on the other hand, is in favor of the plan, but insists that it must be built in a way that differentiates it from the Green Line (the line separating Judea and Samaria from the rest of Israel). \"No one asked me whether or not to build this fence,\" he told Arutz-7 today. \"It is already being built. I have received a map of the planned fence, and it is up to us to submit changes... We must make it clear that the separation plan has no connection with future political developments. We are talking only about the security aspects, in the framework of the acute security problems faced by the area between Hadera and Afula... It should also be made clear that we are not talking about a physical partition, but rather a network of security arrangements, which includes various elements such as cameras, ditches, patrols, fences, etc. In any event, the army must certainly remain in all of Yesha in order to maintain security.\"