Political sources in Jerusalem say that Prime Minister Sharon is once again preparing a program according to which wherever there is no terrorism or violence, Israel will withdraw its forces and hand over security control to the Palestinian Authority. The sources say that Hevron and Bethlehem are likely to be first. "The program is similar to that which former Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer proposed last October," they say, "but now the PA is more willing to implement it."
Some say that talk of such withdrawals is designed only to attract the Labor Party into a Likud-led unity government. Arutz-7's Yesha correspondent Haggai Huberman, however, noted the dangers of such withdrawals earlier this week: "There's not one place in Judea, Samaria or Gaza that is ripe for this type of plan; even in areas where terrorism is down, it's only because of the IDF presence. Wherever there is no such presence, we have suffered: The 22 dead in the Hevron area are the results of the withdrawal from Hevron last October, and when we withdrew from Bethlehem, the result was the Kiryat Menachem bus bombing in November that killed 11... Along the seamline [Tul Karem, Kakilye, etc.] there is quiet, but that's because of the IDF actions and arrests; in the past few days, a few terrorists have been arrested just as they were about to perpetrate attacks... In short, only the IDF presence is what is holding back terror attacks. A ceasefire agreement will simply make it easier for the terrorists to build their infrastructures and prepare for attacks. "
Some say that talk of such withdrawals is designed only to attract the Labor Party into a Likud-led unity government. Arutz-7's Yesha correspondent Haggai Huberman, however, noted the dangers of such withdrawals earlier this week: "There's not one place in Judea, Samaria or Gaza that is ripe for this type of plan; even in areas where terrorism is down, it's only because of the IDF presence. Wherever there is no such presence, we have suffered: The 22 dead in the Hevron area are the results of the withdrawal from Hevron last October, and when we withdrew from Bethlehem, the result was the Kiryat Menachem bus bombing in November that killed 11... Along the seamline [Tul Karem, Kakilye, etc.] there is quiet, but that's because of the IDF actions and arrests; in the past few days, a few terrorists have been arrested just as they were about to perpetrate attacks... In short, only the IDF presence is what is holding back terror attacks. A ceasefire agreement will simply make it easier for the terrorists to build their infrastructures and prepare for attacks. "