Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the first outspoken Likud promoter of the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, visited the southern Shomron community of Ofrah last night and met with some of the residents. He arrived at the invitation of a former colleague of his from their days in the Jerusalem Municipality, Chaim Falk. "It was most definitely not a regular work meeting," recounted Yesha Council leader Pinchas Wallerstein this morning, "but much more tense, charged and difficult."
When Arutz-7's Emanuel Shilo asked a question about "Sharon's withdrawal-from-Gaza plan," Wallerstein interrupted and said, "You see how you fell into the trap? There is no plan merely to withdraw from Gaza. Sharon plans to uproot, in stages, most of the Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Even now, in the first stage, he doesn't talk only about Gush Katif, but rather about the communities in Gaza and a few other isolated ones in Samaria [Shomron]. He will start with the smaller ones, and will then continue, when the public has gotten used to it, to the others. And all this will be in unilateral steps that will not require or bring an end to terrorism. He talks about a withdrawal from Gush Katif - but the threat hanging over Judea and Samaria is no smaller than that hanging over Gush Katif."
Speaking with Arutz-7 today about the meeting last night, Wallerstein said,
"Olmert first tried to convince us that there was no choice because of the demographic issue between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. He did not explain, however, how the arrival of many Arabs from Lebanon and Jordan to the new Arab state would alleviate that problem - nor could he convince us why only Jews need be uprooted from their homes, and why Um el-Fahm should not be included in the new Arab state. We mainly complained to him - I'm speaking calmly to you now, but there was great anger, outbursts and frustration last night - about the fact that Sharon had deceived the public in the last election; Sharon said that Amram Mitzna of Labor was a political rookie for proposing a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza - and is now presenting that exact plan as his own. We also asked him about the split that this plan would cause in the nation and to the army, and how would our sons be expected to behave if given such orders, etc. - and of course he had no answers to any of these questions."
"Let there be no mistake," Wallerstein said. "If the State of Israel decides to give in hopes that someone will like us if we withdraw to a new border, no one will suffice with anything less than the whole thing: The border will be the Mediterranean. For sure, they will make do with nothing less than all of Gaza and all of Judea and Samaria. We could not hold back from reminding him of the verse in the Book of Esther that we will soon read on Purim, 'Who knows if just for this reason you have attained the kingdom... and if not, salvation shall come from elsewhere and you and your house will be lost.' We have no sentiments towards this government. Sharon will have to understand once and for all that our reactions will not be just calm discussions sitting around a tea table..."
"We must make it clear to the public: This government must not exist any longer. We have to emphasize to the public that something has changed, that it's no longer business as usual. Because if not, then the People of Israel will enter a very dangerous state of despair and apathy, with no one showing leadership and vision, and no one pointing out the dangers. People will say, 'OK, it's just Gaza,' etc. - But do they think that there will be any fewer Arabs in Gaza if we leave, or that it will be any harder for the terrorists to get around?"
Wallerstein said he has no complaints against the National Religious Party or National Union for not having initiated the toppling of the government, but added, "My opinion is that we must not remain quiet, we must go out to the streets and present the Nation of Israel with a challenge. I am almost certain that if the NRP and NU show that they are serious about leaving, Sharon himself will start explaining why his plan is no good. But if they vacillate, then it will be too late - because Sharon will continue pushing his plan, and then he'll say that he already promised the Americans, etc."
Speaking with Arutz-7 today about the meeting last night, Wallerstein said,
"Olmert first tried to convince us that there was no choice because of the demographic issue between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. He did not explain, however, how the arrival of many Arabs from Lebanon and Jordan to the new Arab state would alleviate that problem - nor could he convince us why only Jews need be uprooted from their homes, and why Um el-Fahm should not be included in the new Arab state. We mainly complained to him - I'm speaking calmly to you now, but there was great anger, outbursts and frustration last night - about the fact that Sharon had deceived the public in the last election; Sharon said that Amram Mitzna of Labor was a political rookie for proposing a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza - and is now presenting that exact plan as his own. We also asked him about the split that this plan would cause in the nation and to the army, and how would our sons be expected to behave if given such orders, etc. - and of course he had no answers to any of these questions."
"Let there be no mistake," Wallerstein said. "If the State of Israel decides to give in hopes that someone will like us if we withdraw to a new border, no one will suffice with anything less than the whole thing: The border will be the Mediterranean. For sure, they will make do with nothing less than all of Gaza and all of Judea and Samaria. We could not hold back from reminding him of the verse in the Book of Esther that we will soon read on Purim, 'Who knows if just for this reason you have attained the kingdom... and if not, salvation shall come from elsewhere and you and your house will be lost.' We have no sentiments towards this government. Sharon will have to understand once and for all that our reactions will not be just calm discussions sitting around a tea table..."
"We must make it clear to the public: This government must not exist any longer. We have to emphasize to the public that something has changed, that it's no longer business as usual. Because if not, then the People of Israel will enter a very dangerous state of despair and apathy, with no one showing leadership and vision, and no one pointing out the dangers. People will say, 'OK, it's just Gaza,' etc. - But do they think that there will be any fewer Arabs in Gaza if we leave, or that it will be any harder for the terrorists to get around?"
Wallerstein said he has no complaints against the National Religious Party or National Union for not having initiated the toppling of the government, but added, "My opinion is that we must not remain quiet, we must go out to the streets and present the Nation of Israel with a challenge. I am almost certain that if the NRP and NU show that they are serious about leaving, Sharon himself will start explaining why his plan is no good. But if they vacillate, then it will be too late - because Sharon will continue pushing his plan, and then he'll say that he already promised the Americans, etc."