No sooner did the security forces dismantle the Gilad Farm this morning than dozens of Jews returned to the site and started rebuilding it. A group of soldiers arrived around 3 AM this morning at the farm and dismantled the hastily-constructed structures. The farm was taken down nine days ago, and was promptly but partially rebuilt over the past few days. This morning's dismantling crew also removed about 20-40 people who had been manning the area, and no violence was recorded.
The mission was kept totally secret, and the soldiers were originally told that they were headed for a terrorist-catching mission. Only once they were already on their way were they informed that they were actually on a mission to uproot Jews from their land. Some 20 officers ranking from Lt. to Lt.-Col. signed a petition protesting the misleading of the soldiers, saying it would lead to the undermining of soldiers' trust in their officers.
The settlers said that the army blacked-out their cellular phone reception so that they could not call their friends to join them in the surprise struggle. The army refused to comment on these claims.
The Gilad supporters released a statement this morning praising the IDF soldiers and wishing "success to Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer in his primaries race in the Labor Party" - a not-so-veiled hint to the widespread perception that his motives in taking down the Yesha outposts are solely political. Yesha Council spokesman Yehoshua Mor-Yosef said that Defense Minister "Fuad [Ben-Eliezer] did not get the pictures he wanted," because there was no physical violence between troops and residents.
Shortly afterwards, a group of about 20 people returned to the site and continued farming the land. Kedumim Mayor Daniella Weiss, a Yesha pioneer for over 30 years, spoke to Arutz-7 from the site. "There are about 30 young people and some adults here," she said, "some of whom are building, others are resting or picnicking, and others are taking care of the horses. I see another group coming up now; the army sometimes puts up checkpoints, but then takes them down... This farm is a very central place, and very strategic."
The mission was kept totally secret, and the soldiers were originally told that they were headed for a terrorist-catching mission. Only once they were already on their way were they informed that they were actually on a mission to uproot Jews from their land. Some 20 officers ranking from Lt. to Lt.-Col. signed a petition protesting the misleading of the soldiers, saying it would lead to the undermining of soldiers' trust in their officers.
The settlers said that the army blacked-out their cellular phone reception so that they could not call their friends to join them in the surprise struggle. The army refused to comment on these claims.
The Gilad supporters released a statement this morning praising the IDF soldiers and wishing "success to Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer in his primaries race in the Labor Party" - a not-so-veiled hint to the widespread perception that his motives in taking down the Yesha outposts are solely political. Yesha Council spokesman Yehoshua Mor-Yosef said that Defense Minister "Fuad [Ben-Eliezer] did not get the pictures he wanted," because there was no physical violence between troops and residents.
Shortly afterwards, a group of about 20 people returned to the site and continued farming the land. Kedumim Mayor Daniella Weiss, a Yesha pioneer for over 30 years, spoke to Arutz-7 from the site. "There are about 30 young people and some adults here," she said, "some of whom are building, others are resting or picnicking, and others are taking care of the horses. I see another group coming up now; the army sometimes puts up checkpoints, but then takes them down... This farm is a very central place, and very strategic."