Arutz-7\'s Arik Kahane spoke with Yesha Council Chairman Bentzy Lieberman today on the topic of the current campaign against the Yesha \"outposts\" - where a handful of people or families live - and on the planned partition between Arab-populated areas in Judea/Samaria and the rest of Israel.
Regarding the outposts, he said, \"Defense Minister Ben Eliezer is trying, for his own political reasons, to catch us, but the fact is that almost every single one of the outposts is perfectly legal, and the others just have [minor technical] problems. The media are also jumping on this bandwagon, in order to try and reduce the growth in public support for the Yesha residents...\" Asked about the commonly-heard complaint that the army should not have to provide protection for every handful of settlers, Lieberman said, \"Whoever looks at the settlement map of the past 120 years sees that the system of \'mitzpim\' [watch-tower outposts that later developed into communities] in the Galilee, which was carried out [many years ago] by Ariel Sharon and others, is one of the smartest ways for us to keep a stronghold in this land in the midst of an Arab presence. Wherever Jews live, that\'s where the Israeli map will be drawn… If people move to a certain point with the backing of the government, then soldiers must be there to protect them.\"
Lieberman had similar criticism of Ben-Eliezer regarding the proposed partition fence: \"He is taking advantage of a sincere desire for security and protection within the public, in order to build a political wall for his own narrow political considerations - a wall that will become a de facto border. Prime Minister Sharon himself told us and others a few months ago that the partition would not be a fence per se, but a combination of various elements such as trenches, patrols, cameras, concrete barriers, etc. But what we see is that a real border fence is being built, something that will create a feeling in the public and in the world that there is a real border, that Israel is simply giving up Judea and Samaria. This is Oslo Deceit #2.\"
Regarding the outposts, he said, \"Defense Minister Ben Eliezer is trying, for his own political reasons, to catch us, but the fact is that almost every single one of the outposts is perfectly legal, and the others just have [minor technical] problems. The media are also jumping on this bandwagon, in order to try and reduce the growth in public support for the Yesha residents...\" Asked about the commonly-heard complaint that the army should not have to provide protection for every handful of settlers, Lieberman said, \"Whoever looks at the settlement map of the past 120 years sees that the system of \'mitzpim\' [watch-tower outposts that later developed into communities] in the Galilee, which was carried out [many years ago] by Ariel Sharon and others, is one of the smartest ways for us to keep a stronghold in this land in the midst of an Arab presence. Wherever Jews live, that\'s where the Israeli map will be drawn… If people move to a certain point with the backing of the government, then soldiers must be there to protect them.\"
Lieberman had similar criticism of Ben-Eliezer regarding the proposed partition fence: \"He is taking advantage of a sincere desire for security and protection within the public, in order to build a political wall for his own narrow political considerations - a wall that will become a de facto border. Prime Minister Sharon himself told us and others a few months ago that the partition would not be a fence per se, but a combination of various elements such as trenches, patrols, cameras, concrete barriers, etc. But what we see is that a real border fence is being built, something that will create a feeling in the public and in the world that there is a real border, that Israel is simply giving up Judea and Samaria. This is Oslo Deceit #2.\"