The Labor Party appears to be readying for the upcoming political fight regarding the small new Yesha outposts. Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer said earlier this week that he plans to dismantle them - \"by force, if dialogue does not work\" - but Prime Minister Sharon instructed him not to take action until the Cabinet discusses it. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said today that the army is already spread much too thin, \"so what do we need 15 extra points of contention for?\" Labor MK Ophir Pines said that his party should quit the national unity government if the outposts are not removed. Arutz-7\'s Haggai Segal spoke today with Labor faction head MK Effie Oshaya on this issue:
HS: The Bedouin have established illegal \"outposts\" on area equivalent in size to all of Tel Aviv. So the few little hilltops in Yesha are what\'s bothering you?
EO: I know all the settlements and the extent that they have, thank G-d, reached. The State of Israel today has reached, in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, an amount of settlements that, in our view, is a millstone around the neck of peace. We are against illegal construction in all areas...
HS: ... You say that the settlements are a millstone, but I believe it was your party that proved, in Camp David last year, that the true obstacle to peace is not the settlements, but the \"right of return\" [of Arab refugees] and Jerusalem [when Arafat turned down an offer of 95% of Judea and Samaria and the dismantling of most of the Yesha communities]...
EO: Yes, but it\'s all one big package. Today, there is the Mitchell Report, which the Prime Minister himself says that he accepts totally, and which calls for a total settlement freeze - so how can we establish new ones or new outposts?
HS: Implementation of the Mitchell Report has not yet begun because the Palestinians are not stopping their violence, so they deserve to be rewarded for this?
EO: No, they don\'t deserve a prize, but we also don\'t deserve to have another obstacle. Look, we entered a national unity government during a time of national trouble, and both the Likud and we made compromises. I don\'t see any reason to keep these outposts in place, aside from that of protest, which may be justified, but not to keep them there for a long time. They contribute nothing to security --
HS: Some of these outposts were established exactly where attacks had occurred, and in their merit, further attacks are prevented.
EO: Look, Haggai, these outposts require army soldiers to protect them, and residential communities never helped in the security effort. In the Yom Kippur War, the first thing that happened was that these towns were evacuated...
HS: OK, here we\'re not talking about a total war, but just the prevention of local attacks. I want to ask you -
EO: Why is it that civilians - to whom, truly, my heart goes out and for whom I want the best security means but unfortunately they are not getting - but why do they have to be the ones to maintain the security of the State of Israel? This is why we have the Israel Defense Forces --
HS: Look, they feel somewhat abandoned, MK Oshaya, and the facts speak for themselves --
EO: Yes, I agree that they feel a little abandoned, because I remember during the Gulf War, the whole country was forced to wear those silly masks which did nothing but cost a fortune, while today the residents of Yesha travel around without protection, and are forced to scramble for themselves to acquire bulletproof vests and the like. The State should be doing this for them. But at the same time, I don\'t think that they have to establish pirate outposts, even if their protest is painful and just.
HS: Don\'t you think, MK Oshaya, that your party has been waging a lost battle? For decades already you have been fighting against the settlements, and not only have they not been evacuated, they have even grown?
EO: Let\'s not distort history: We\'re the ones [under whose government] the settlements were established, so it can\'t be said that we have been fighting against them for decades.
HS: Well, since 1975 approximately. In any event, that\'s a question for history to decide. MK Effie Oshaya, head of the Labor Knesset faction, thank you.
EO: A good day to you.
HS: The Bedouin have established illegal \"outposts\" on area equivalent in size to all of Tel Aviv. So the few little hilltops in Yesha are what\'s bothering you?
EO: I know all the settlements and the extent that they have, thank G-d, reached. The State of Israel today has reached, in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, an amount of settlements that, in our view, is a millstone around the neck of peace. We are against illegal construction in all areas...
HS: ... You say that the settlements are a millstone, but I believe it was your party that proved, in Camp David last year, that the true obstacle to peace is not the settlements, but the \"right of return\" [of Arab refugees] and Jerusalem [when Arafat turned down an offer of 95% of Judea and Samaria and the dismantling of most of the Yesha communities]...
EO: Yes, but it\'s all one big package. Today, there is the Mitchell Report, which the Prime Minister himself says that he accepts totally, and which calls for a total settlement freeze - so how can we establish new ones or new outposts?
HS: Implementation of the Mitchell Report has not yet begun because the Palestinians are not stopping their violence, so they deserve to be rewarded for this?
EO: No, they don\'t deserve a prize, but we also don\'t deserve to have another obstacle. Look, we entered a national unity government during a time of national trouble, and both the Likud and we made compromises. I don\'t see any reason to keep these outposts in place, aside from that of protest, which may be justified, but not to keep them there for a long time. They contribute nothing to security --
HS: Some of these outposts were established exactly where attacks had occurred, and in their merit, further attacks are prevented.
EO: Look, Haggai, these outposts require army soldiers to protect them, and residential communities never helped in the security effort. In the Yom Kippur War, the first thing that happened was that these towns were evacuated...
HS: OK, here we\'re not talking about a total war, but just the prevention of local attacks. I want to ask you -
EO: Why is it that civilians - to whom, truly, my heart goes out and for whom I want the best security means but unfortunately they are not getting - but why do they have to be the ones to maintain the security of the State of Israel? This is why we have the Israel Defense Forces --
HS: Look, they feel somewhat abandoned, MK Oshaya, and the facts speak for themselves --
EO: Yes, I agree that they feel a little abandoned, because I remember during the Gulf War, the whole country was forced to wear those silly masks which did nothing but cost a fortune, while today the residents of Yesha travel around without protection, and are forced to scramble for themselves to acquire bulletproof vests and the like. The State should be doing this for them. But at the same time, I don\'t think that they have to establish pirate outposts, even if their protest is painful and just.
HS: Don\'t you think, MK Oshaya, that your party has been waging a lost battle? For decades already you have been fighting against the settlements, and not only have they not been evacuated, they have even grown?
EO: Let\'s not distort history: We\'re the ones [under whose government] the settlements were established, so it can\'t be said that we have been fighting against them for decades.
HS: Well, since 1975 approximately. In any event, that\'s a question for history to decide. MK Effie Oshaya, head of the Labor Knesset faction, thank you.
EO: A good day to you.