Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Monday led off a tension-packed debate on the disengagement plan in the Knesset , claiming he had not turned against the communities of Judea, Samaria and Gaza (Yesha). He said that in the last election campaign, “I said I support a Palestinian site next to Israel and there would be painful concessions…in order to bring peace.”
"We don't want to remain in control of a population of Palestinians who are rapidly multiplying," Sharon said.
Four Knesset members from the National Unity, National Religious and Likud parties were expelled for disrupting the Prime Minister’s opening speech. Members from the Meretz party also heckled Sharon when he declared that 16 years ago he told Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir that Israel must concede part of Yesha in order to prevent an ultimate return to the borders that existed before the Six-Day War in 1967.
“I carry my responsibilities with a heavy heart,” Sharon said. “The nation in its entirety is watching us now, and listening to every word being uttered in Israel's Knesset. This is the nation that has withstood hardships, generation after generation in which schools, hotels and buses have been targets of vicious terror.”
Opposition leader Shimon Peres told the Knesset that peace with Egypt was better than staying in Yamit, referring to the evacuation of Jews from the Sinai more than 30 years ago when Israel gave the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. Peres said Israel’s position in the world would improve if it does the same in the Gaza Strip and northern Samarian, where more than 8,000 Jews live, some for more than 25 years.
Yahad MK Yossi Sarid reaffirmed that his party was in favor of the proposed disengagement, but added, "There are some things that are strange about this plan. I am not sure this plan is deserving of great enthusiasm." He pointed out that no one knows if Israel’s security will be better after withdrawal. "Are we leaving but not leaving? Disengaging but still ruling?" he asked.
All the Knesset members will be given five minutes to speak, and the debate will end at midnight and restart Tuesday morning.
Knesset members actually will be voting on a mandate to Sharon to carry out his plan, but a clause in the bill states that approval would not be “a decision to evacuate” people. That clause would be added only after final agreement to compensation legislation, which will take about four months. Sharon's spokesman characterized the clause as "nothing more than semantics."
"We don't want to remain in control of a population of Palestinians who are rapidly multiplying," Sharon said.
Four Knesset members from the National Unity, National Religious and Likud parties were expelled for disrupting the Prime Minister’s opening speech. Members from the Meretz party also heckled Sharon when he declared that 16 years ago he told Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir that Israel must concede part of Yesha in order to prevent an ultimate return to the borders that existed before the Six-Day War in 1967.
“I carry my responsibilities with a heavy heart,” Sharon said. “The nation in its entirety is watching us now, and listening to every word being uttered in Israel's Knesset. This is the nation that has withstood hardships, generation after generation in which schools, hotels and buses have been targets of vicious terror.”
Opposition leader Shimon Peres told the Knesset that peace with Egypt was better than staying in Yamit, referring to the evacuation of Jews from the Sinai more than 30 years ago when Israel gave the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. Peres said Israel’s position in the world would improve if it does the same in the Gaza Strip and northern Samarian, where more than 8,000 Jews live, some for more than 25 years.
Yahad MK Yossi Sarid reaffirmed that his party was in favor of the proposed disengagement, but added, "There are some things that are strange about this plan. I am not sure this plan is deserving of great enthusiasm." He pointed out that no one knows if Israel’s security will be better after withdrawal. "Are we leaving but not leaving? Disengaging but still ruling?" he asked.
All the Knesset members will be given five minutes to speak, and the debate will end at midnight and restart Tuesday morning.
Knesset members actually will be voting on a mandate to Sharon to carry out his plan, but a clause in the bill states that approval would not be “a decision to evacuate” people. That clause would be added only after final agreement to compensation legislation, which will take about four months. Sharon's spokesman characterized the clause as "nothing more than semantics."