Oren Zar, one of the sons of farm-owner Moshe Zar and whose brother Gilad was murdered by terrorists last year, spoke emotionally to Arutz-7 today from the site of the Gilad Farm:
"We so much wanted to prevent this [clash]... On Wednesday, we even did something that much of our own family didn't want to do, and that was to agree to a compromise - even though people booed us, including [Kedumim Mayor] Daniella [Weiss], who we so much love and admire. But we did it because we had an agreement and a clear promise that the farm would continue, that they would try to keep the caravans, and the other building would stay there. The army even came on Thursday to fix them up. And what is the reason for all this? Because of Ben-Eliezer's low standing in the polls, which leads him to shoot in all directions... If he is so concerned about the rule of law, let him take the 3,000 soldiers that he has here and start taking down the many illegal Arab buildings that we see here right across from us..."
Many Labor and Meretz party MKs reacted with anger towards the settlers, sharply condemning their violent resistance of the soldiers and their refusal to peacefully evacuate the Gilad Farm. Labor party faction head MK Effie Oshaya sounded a slightly different tone, however. He told Arutz-7 that he was against illegal outposts and even wished that many of the Yesha communities themselves would be dismantled - but added that the evacuation should not have been done with force, but rather only via dialogue. He also said that the right-wing should direct its anger not at Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer, but rather at Prime Minister Sharon, "whom they elected by such a fantastic margin and who bears overall responsibility for the government's policies."
Rabbi Yaakov Meidan, author of a social manifesto outlining a framework in which the religious and secular could live together, condemned the violence. He noted that the policemen did not comply with the obligation to wear ID tags, "and their behavior was accordingly more brutal." When asked their names by the people they were "removing," the policemen all gave the same name: Shachar Ayalon - the name of the Samaria-Judea Police District commander. Ayalon himself said today that, contrary to major news reports last night, "none of my men were injured by the settlers at the Gilad Farm." He said this to Gush Etzion Regional Council head Sha'ul Goldstein.
"We so much wanted to prevent this [clash]... On Wednesday, we even did something that much of our own family didn't want to do, and that was to agree to a compromise - even though people booed us, including [Kedumim Mayor] Daniella [Weiss], who we so much love and admire. But we did it because we had an agreement and a clear promise that the farm would continue, that they would try to keep the caravans, and the other building would stay there. The army even came on Thursday to fix them up. And what is the reason for all this? Because of Ben-Eliezer's low standing in the polls, which leads him to shoot in all directions... If he is so concerned about the rule of law, let him take the 3,000 soldiers that he has here and start taking down the many illegal Arab buildings that we see here right across from us..."
Many Labor and Meretz party MKs reacted with anger towards the settlers, sharply condemning their violent resistance of the soldiers and their refusal to peacefully evacuate the Gilad Farm. Labor party faction head MK Effie Oshaya sounded a slightly different tone, however. He told Arutz-7 that he was against illegal outposts and even wished that many of the Yesha communities themselves would be dismantled - but added that the evacuation should not have been done with force, but rather only via dialogue. He also said that the right-wing should direct its anger not at Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer, but rather at Prime Minister Sharon, "whom they elected by such a fantastic margin and who bears overall responsibility for the government's policies."
Rabbi Yaakov Meidan, author of a social manifesto outlining a framework in which the religious and secular could live together, condemned the violence. He noted that the policemen did not comply with the obligation to wear ID tags, "and their behavior was accordingly more brutal." When asked their names by the people they were "removing," the policemen all gave the same name: Shachar Ayalon - the name of the Samaria-Judea Police District commander. Ayalon himself said today that, contrary to major news reports last night, "none of my men were injured by the settlers at the Gilad Farm." He said this to Gush Etzion Regional Council head Sha'ul Goldstein.