The salami process appears to be underway. Deputy Defense Minister Ze'ev Boim said that the government plans to dismantle about ten outposts in Yesha - but not those that oversee "security-significant locations."
Pinchas Wallerstein, a long-time Yesha leader and Binyamin Regional Council head, who is considered to be among the more "moderate" Yesha leaders, said today that the residents of Yesha would fight against the destruction of manned outposts. He denied that Prime Minister Sharon and his friend Yesha leader Ze'ev Chever (Zambish), head of the Amanah settlement organization, met last night. "There is currently a rift between the Prime Minister's Office and most Yesha leaders," Wallerstein said. Yesha elements say that aides to Sharon have warned them that he is serious about his concessions to the PA, and is not merely taking a tactical stance.
The government has also apparently decided not to issue new construction permits in Yesha. Likud MK Yechiel Chazan, head of the Yesha lobby in the Knesset, claims that requests for building permits for 3,500 new housing units in Yesha have been turned down - contrary to Sharon's promise that construction within Yesha communities would not be stopped.
The mayor of the Shomron city of Ariel, Ron Nachman of the Likud, said that the Likud governments - except for a certain period under Binyamin Netanyahu - have "dried out" the Yesha residents the same way the left-wing governments have. Nachman, an outspoken individual, attacked Likud MKs who "oppose the Road Map yet refuse to wage a real political struggle on behalf of the communities and against the withdrawals."
Pinchas Wallerstein, a long-time Yesha leader and Binyamin Regional Council head, who is considered to be among the more "moderate" Yesha leaders, said today that the residents of Yesha would fight against the destruction of manned outposts. He denied that Prime Minister Sharon and his friend Yesha leader Ze'ev Chever (Zambish), head of the Amanah settlement organization, met last night. "There is currently a rift between the Prime Minister's Office and most Yesha leaders," Wallerstein said. Yesha elements say that aides to Sharon have warned them that he is serious about his concessions to the PA, and is not merely taking a tactical stance.
The government has also apparently decided not to issue new construction permits in Yesha. Likud MK Yechiel Chazan, head of the Yesha lobby in the Knesset, claims that requests for building permits for 3,500 new housing units in Yesha have been turned down - contrary to Sharon's promise that construction within Yesha communities would not be stopped.
The mayor of the Shomron city of Ariel, Ron Nachman of the Likud, said that the Likud governments - except for a certain period under Binyamin Netanyahu - have "dried out" the Yesha residents the same way the left-wing governments have. Nachman, an outspoken individual, attacked Likud MKs who "oppose the Road Map yet refuse to wage a real political struggle on behalf of the communities and against the withdrawals."