Residents of Ariel and Maaleh Adumim have reason to worry: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday that their cities would not be evacuated. Sharon has also said in the past that "no Yesha settlement will be removed, period," and has spoken out in favor of the strategic value of the Jewish communities in Gaza.
In an appearance yesterday at the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the Prime Minister said that the area between Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim, just east of it, belongs to Jerusalem. "This area will be developed," he said, "and Jews will continue to live there in the future." He also said that Ariel would not be evacuated.
MK Yisrael Eichler (United Torah Judaism) said afterwards that the residents of Ariel should start being worried. "They should ask the residents of Yamit and the other communities there," Eichler said, "as well as those in Netzarim and Gush Katif, how to respond to such declarations by Sharon. Just last week, he said that Ariel was to be taken out of the route of the wall [thus leaving it on the "Arab" side of the Green Line - ed. note], and next week he is liable to decide to evacuate it altogether."
Regarding his plan to withdraw from Gaza and expel its Jews, Sharon said that the Arab residents will not be greatly affected by the move: "The Karni and Erez Crossings will continue to operate as border crossings, and the Erez Industrial Zone will continue to function if there is no terrorism. Electricity, water and the daily lives of the [Arabs] there will not be affected."
It was reported late last week that Prime Minister Sharon has invited the Egyptian Army to deploy in Gaza in place of the IDF. Maariv correspondent Ben Caspit wrote that Sharon revealed his proposal when meeting recently with top Israeli military leaders, who were not enthusiastic over the idea, and has even already made the offer to Egypt. Egypt, however, has thus far rejected the idea. Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA notes that the proposal "removes the key element of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty completed in 1982: a series of progressively more restricted limited-force zones spanning the Sinai Desert to protect Israel against surprise Egyptian invasion." Egyptian forces in Gaza would be only some 40 miles of Tel Aviv.
In an appearance yesterday at the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the Prime Minister said that the area between Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim, just east of it, belongs to Jerusalem. "This area will be developed," he said, "and Jews will continue to live there in the future." He also said that Ariel would not be evacuated.
MK Yisrael Eichler (United Torah Judaism) said afterwards that the residents of Ariel should start being worried. "They should ask the residents of Yamit and the other communities there," Eichler said, "as well as those in Netzarim and Gush Katif, how to respond to such declarations by Sharon. Just last week, he said that Ariel was to be taken out of the route of the wall [thus leaving it on the "Arab" side of the Green Line - ed. note], and next week he is liable to decide to evacuate it altogether."
Regarding his plan to withdraw from Gaza and expel its Jews, Sharon said that the Arab residents will not be greatly affected by the move: "The Karni and Erez Crossings will continue to operate as border crossings, and the Erez Industrial Zone will continue to function if there is no terrorism. Electricity, water and the daily lives of the [Arabs] there will not be affected."
It was reported late last week that Prime Minister Sharon has invited the Egyptian Army to deploy in Gaza in place of the IDF. Maariv correspondent Ben Caspit wrote that Sharon revealed his proposal when meeting recently with top Israeli military leaders, who were not enthusiastic over the idea, and has even already made the offer to Egypt. Egypt, however, has thus far rejected the idea. Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA notes that the proposal "removes the key element of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty completed in 1982: a series of progressively more restricted limited-force zones spanning the Sinai Desert to protect Israel against surprise Egyptian invasion." Egyptian forces in Gaza would be only some 40 miles of Tel Aviv.