Acting on Defense Ministry orders, IDF troops last night dismantled two unmanned outposts in the Shomron - one near Shechem and the other one near Ramallah. The Defense Ministry has submitted a list of 24 more outposts that it plans to dismantle within a week, including some that are populated. The latter include Assaf, at the turnoff leading to Beit El (five families; established as a strategic outpost in memory of Assaf Hershkovitz who was murdered by terrorists nearby); Gilad, south of Shechem; and Eshtamoa, near Hevron. The Yesha Council says that dismantling the outposts rewards Arab terror. It appears that both the Council and the army will want to reach a peaceful solution to the issue, and representatives of both will meet in the coming days.
Herut Party leader Michael Kleiner said that Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer is acting as if he had received emergency military call-up orders [Tzav Shmoneh] from the extreme left-wing Meretz Party. "The Defense Ministry should stop dismantling outposts," Kleiner said, "and should instead spend its time destroying the illegal Arab structures overlooking Jewish-traveled roads throughout Yesha that have been used as cover for terrorists during attacks."
Herut Party leader Michael Kleiner said that Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer is acting as if he had received emergency military call-up orders [Tzav Shmoneh] from the extreme left-wing Meretz Party. "The Defense Ministry should stop dismantling outposts," Kleiner said, "and should instead spend its time destroying the illegal Arab structures overlooking Jewish-traveled roads throughout Yesha that have been used as cover for terrorists during attacks."