The bill is expected to pass by approximately a 70-40 margin - although there are reports that some ministers, such as Binyamin Netanyahu, might surprise with their votes.
Around noon today, as Labor's Minister Chaim Ramon was about to get up to speak, MK Tzvi Hendel called out to him, "Just don't lie and say that we're about to finally get out of Gaza - we got out of Gaza a long time ago, and now all you're doing is taking us out of Gush Katif [the Jewish areas of Gaza]."
Ramon then began his speech by saying, "You won't succeed in brainwashing: N'vei Dekalim is Khan Yunis, and Netzarim is Dir el-Balah." He meant to say that the Jewish community of N'vei Dekalim - the largest in Gush Katif - is not a geographical location of its own, but merely occupies land belonging to the adjacent city of Khan Yunis. Similarly, many PA maps of Israel have "Palestine" instead of Israel, and "Al-Quds" instead of Jerusalem.
MK Rabbi Yitzchak Levy (National Religious Party) used his five minutes to read aloud a letter written by the late Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook, the rabbinical leader of post-independence religious Zionism. The letter was written around the year 1948, when rival Jewish groups threatened to fight each other. The letter states,
"Let no one among us, no party or organization - all of which want the best for our nation and land - decide that all truth and justice is on his side. Let not anyone during this terrible time try to force his opinion on his comrade... Let us not impair our public freedom in thoughts and opinions, in amibitions and plans, by crossing the limits of physical force and rooting hatred of the hearts. Let us remember that one who raises his hand against his fellow is considered an evil person... and certainly when one raises his hand against his brother..."
Rabbi Levy concluded by saying that though it appears that within a number of hours, the expulsion bill would pass, "let us not, because of this calamity, destroy the entire structure that we have built. We will try to prevent this calamity, not by physical force and not by increasing hatred, but via the correct means. Even if at the end, that [which we dread] happens, we must remember that we are in the midst of building our glorious country. This letter speaks to everyone - right, left, police, army, Yesha residents, youth, adults.... Even in another few hours, we will remain brothers."
The debate began shortly after noon yesterday, adjourned at midnight, and resumed this morning at 9:00. It began with presentations by MK Avraham Shochat, providing financial details of the law, and Law Committee Chairman MK Michael Eitan, who presented the legal aspects.
Shochat, who served as Finance Minister during the 13th and 15th Knessets, explained that the law as it had originally been presented by the government was totally unfair to the residents. He said that the total sum to be provided for compensation was increased from approximately 2.8 billion to 3.8 billion shekels, and that the evacuation of the Erez Industrial Zone alone will cost a billion shekels.
MK Eitan said that he favors the disengagement, but that he hopes that Prime Minister Sharon will agree to hold a referendum on the question beforehand. He also noted "with sorrow" that no attempt had been made by the government to explore possibilities with the Palestinian Authority that would enable the Jewish communities in Gaza to remain in place.
Following the two presentations, the MKs began ascending to the podium, with each one being given five minutes to speak his or her heart on the law. Many of the speeches were interrupted by heckling from the few MKs who happened to be in the plenum at the time (usually MKs who had just finished speaking or were waiting their turn to do so).
MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) caused a major stir by reading off the names of residents slated for expulsion, following each name with the words, "A Jew slated for expulsion." He has done this before, and was rewarded for his efforts with a rebuke from the Knesset Ethics Committee.
Eldad was followed by Meretz MK Chaim Oron, who said, "Your Zionism and mine are not the same. If you're a Zionist, then I'm not - but if I'm a Zionist, then you're not... We have reached a historic decision that shows that in order to live in peace, and in order to remain a Jewish Zionist country, we are willing to part with parts of the land."
The next speaker was MK Nissan Slomiansky of the National Religious Party, who addressed his remarks to his predecessor on the podium: "You are certainly a Zionist, but your ideology is mistaken and misleading. You say that you are willing to make sacrifices for peace - but was there peace here in 1965 [before Israel liberated Judea, Samaria and Gaza]? No! There were the same terrorist attacks - they called them fedayeen then, instead of intifada - and the same situation as there is today. What will you do after you give them all of the territories from 1967 and they continue to make war on us? You will say the same things then that we are saying now! And you talk about a demographic threat - the same threat exists here in the [pre-1967 borders of the] State of Israel; what will you do in 20 years?"
Around noon today, as Labor's Minister Chaim Ramon was about to get up to speak, MK Tzvi Hendel called out to him, "Just don't lie and say that we're about to finally get out of Gaza - we got out of Gaza a long time ago, and now all you're doing is taking us out of Gush Katif [the Jewish areas of Gaza]."
Ramon then began his speech by saying, "You won't succeed in brainwashing: N'vei Dekalim is Khan Yunis, and Netzarim is Dir el-Balah." He meant to say that the Jewish community of N'vei Dekalim - the largest in Gush Katif - is not a geographical location of its own, but merely occupies land belonging to the adjacent city of Khan Yunis. Similarly, many PA maps of Israel have "Palestine" instead of Israel, and "Al-Quds" instead of Jerusalem.
MK Rabbi Yitzchak Levy (National Religious Party) used his five minutes to read aloud a letter written by the late Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook, the rabbinical leader of post-independence religious Zionism. The letter was written around the year 1948, when rival Jewish groups threatened to fight each other. The letter states,
"Let no one among us, no party or organization - all of which want the best for our nation and land - decide that all truth and justice is on his side. Let not anyone during this terrible time try to force his opinion on his comrade... Let us not impair our public freedom in thoughts and opinions, in amibitions and plans, by crossing the limits of physical force and rooting hatred of the hearts. Let us remember that one who raises his hand against his fellow is considered an evil person... and certainly when one raises his hand against his brother..."
Rabbi Levy concluded by saying that though it appears that within a number of hours, the expulsion bill would pass, "let us not, because of this calamity, destroy the entire structure that we have built. We will try to prevent this calamity, not by physical force and not by increasing hatred, but via the correct means. Even if at the end, that [which we dread] happens, we must remember that we are in the midst of building our glorious country. This letter speaks to everyone - right, left, police, army, Yesha residents, youth, adults.... Even in another few hours, we will remain brothers."
The debate began shortly after noon yesterday, adjourned at midnight, and resumed this morning at 9:00. It began with presentations by MK Avraham Shochat, providing financial details of the law, and Law Committee Chairman MK Michael Eitan, who presented the legal aspects.
Shochat, who served as Finance Minister during the 13th and 15th Knessets, explained that the law as it had originally been presented by the government was totally unfair to the residents. He said that the total sum to be provided for compensation was increased from approximately 2.8 billion to 3.8 billion shekels, and that the evacuation of the Erez Industrial Zone alone will cost a billion shekels.
MK Eitan said that he favors the disengagement, but that he hopes that Prime Minister Sharon will agree to hold a referendum on the question beforehand. He also noted "with sorrow" that no attempt had been made by the government to explore possibilities with the Palestinian Authority that would enable the Jewish communities in Gaza to remain in place.
Following the two presentations, the MKs began ascending to the podium, with each one being given five minutes to speak his or her heart on the law. Many of the speeches were interrupted by heckling from the few MKs who happened to be in the plenum at the time (usually MKs who had just finished speaking or were waiting their turn to do so).
MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) caused a major stir by reading off the names of residents slated for expulsion, following each name with the words, "A Jew slated for expulsion." He has done this before, and was rewarded for his efforts with a rebuke from the Knesset Ethics Committee.
Eldad was followed by Meretz MK Chaim Oron, who said, "Your Zionism and mine are not the same. If you're a Zionist, then I'm not - but if I'm a Zionist, then you're not... We have reached a historic decision that shows that in order to live in peace, and in order to remain a Jewish Zionist country, we are willing to part with parts of the land."
The next speaker was MK Nissan Slomiansky of the National Religious Party, who addressed his remarks to his predecessor on the podium: "You are certainly a Zionist, but your ideology is mistaken and misleading. You say that you are willing to make sacrifices for peace - but was there peace here in 1965 [before Israel liberated Judea, Samaria and Gaza]? No! There were the same terrorist attacks - they called them fedayeen then, instead of intifada - and the same situation as there is today. What will you do after you give them all of the territories from 1967 and they continue to make war on us? You will say the same things then that we are saying now! And you talk about a demographic threat - the same threat exists here in the [pre-1967 borders of the] State of Israel; what will you do in 20 years?"