Not everything about the Human Chain is forward-looking and bright-eyed ideology, however. Acting Tourism Minister Gideon Ezra (Likud), a former Deputy Chief of the General Security Service, put a damper on things when he told Israel Radio this morning that anyone who might be thinking about violent activity to stop Prime Minister Sharon's "disengagement" plan should be put under administrative detention.
Veteran Yesha leader and Binyamin Regional Council Chief Pinchas Wallerstein stated that residents of Judea, Samaria and Gaza "feel persecuted." He called on public officials to refrain from issuing general statements discrediting an entire segment of the population.
Public Security Minister Tzachi HaNegbi said yesterday that there are Jews who plan an attack on the Temple Mount mosques in order to derail the diplomatic process and specifically the disengagement/expulsion plan. The police said this morning that they have no specific information to this effect.
The exchange was reminiscent of one earlier this month when HaNegbi said he has "no doubt" that there are Jews in Israel plotting assassinations and the like - and later clarified that he had no specific intelligence to that effect.
Baruch Marzel of Hevron, who ran for Knesset with former MK Michael Kleiner in the last elections, said, "Tzachi HaNegbi could become the Minister of Nonsense. Every few days he comes out with a new spin with the purpose of sidetracking the public discourse from the fact that the government, of which he is a member, is planning to expel thousands of Jews from their homes."
Minister Uzi Landau, who served as Public Security Minister in the previous government, said in response to HaNegbi this morning that while authorities should make every effort maintain public security, administrative detention is not called for.
In another stab at the human-chainers, the police informed the organizers last night that they would not allow them to stand along an 8-kilometer stretch between Shaar HaGai and the entrance to Jerusalem. Likud activist Aviad Visuly originally said he would turn to the Supreme Court against this decision, but then changed his mind: "We don't want to give the police any excuses." He said that he was sure the police decision was a result of political pressures. "In any event, even if they don't close the highway, it could be that the many buses and cars there will cause a traffic jam that will itself form part of the chain," he said today.
Veteran Yesha leader and Binyamin Regional Council Chief Pinchas Wallerstein stated that residents of Judea, Samaria and Gaza "feel persecuted." He called on public officials to refrain from issuing general statements discrediting an entire segment of the population.
Public Security Minister Tzachi HaNegbi said yesterday that there are Jews who plan an attack on the Temple Mount mosques in order to derail the diplomatic process and specifically the disengagement/expulsion plan. The police said this morning that they have no specific information to this effect.
The exchange was reminiscent of one earlier this month when HaNegbi said he has "no doubt" that there are Jews in Israel plotting assassinations and the like - and later clarified that he had no specific intelligence to that effect.
Baruch Marzel of Hevron, who ran for Knesset with former MK Michael Kleiner in the last elections, said, "Tzachi HaNegbi could become the Minister of Nonsense. Every few days he comes out with a new spin with the purpose of sidetracking the public discourse from the fact that the government, of which he is a member, is planning to expel thousands of Jews from their homes."
Minister Uzi Landau, who served as Public Security Minister in the previous government, said in response to HaNegbi this morning that while authorities should make every effort maintain public security, administrative detention is not called for.
In another stab at the human-chainers, the police informed the organizers last night that they would not allow them to stand along an 8-kilometer stretch between Shaar HaGai and the entrance to Jerusalem. Likud activist Aviad Visuly originally said he would turn to the Supreme Court against this decision, but then changed his mind: "We don't want to give the police any excuses." He said that he was sure the police decision was a result of political pressures. "In any event, even if they don't close the highway, it could be that the many buses and cars there will cause a traffic jam that will itself form part of the chain," he said today.