Col. (res.) Ron Shechner, formerly the Mayor of the Mt. Hevron Regional Council and who now serves as Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz's advisor for settlement affairs, says that he will have no part in what he calls the "loathsome" work of organizing the demolition of outposts in Judea and Samaria. Speaking with Haaretz in an interview published on Friday, Shechner said that the orders will be carried out by certain defined departments in the Defense Ministry, "and I will have nothing to do with it. The question is, though, who gave the orders? The answer is, the Prime Minister..." Shechner has no criticism for his own boss, Defense Minister Mofaz - who himself was one of the first residents of Elkanah, a prominent Jewish community in the Shomron - and apportions all the blame to Sharon.



Shechner said that Sharon chose not to take the legal approach, "looking to see which places and buildings were constructed legally, but rather made a diplomatic decision. He reached the conclusion that [the first choice] will take too long, and that some of the outposts, and parts of others, are certainly legal - but the Americans don't want to hear this; they just want to see all the outposts down. The Americans want results now, and therefore the Prime Minister decided to take the other approach. For instance, he wants to evacuate Ginot Aryeh [in Ofrah], period." Shechner admits that he and many others are very frustrated by the current approach. "I deal with building. The outposts have not yet been dismantled. As long as I can still contribute to building in the Land of Israel, it's OK."