The President of the State of Israel and his wife were attending a conference at a college in Ariel. At one point, conference chairman Prof. Moshe Arens, a former three-time Minister of Defense, asked if there were any questions from the audience for the President.
Student Batya Gutman, of Beit El, suddenly approached the microphone, and asked, "How can the government expel Jews from their homes in Gaza, after the failure of Oslo and four and a half years of war with the Palestinian Authority?"
Arens was startled when she grabbed the microphone, and said that someone else was about to speak before her. But Batya refused to relent, saying she had an urgent question for the President - and Katzav then asked her to speak.
“The first time I met you, Mr. President," she said, "was when you arrived at our home to console my family on the death of my brother, Hezi, who was killed in an IDF operation in southern Gaza two years ago. Sitting next to me is my friend Aliza Siton, whose brother was murdered in a terrorist attack in Itamar.
“I would like to ask you, Mr. President, how we can implement the disengagement plan when we already know the catastrophe of the Oslo accords? We already know the disastrous results of the weapons [that Israel put] in the hands of the Palestinians”
Gutman spoke for about three minutes as her classmates listened attentively, maintaining absolute silence.
As she spoke, the audience saw the President’s wife weeping. When Gutman ended her words, the audience applauded.
The President responded, saying that Israel chose its representatives to the Knesset democratically, and as such, it represents the will of the nation. Gutman interrupted his words: “We didn’t vote so that for the price of NIS 700 million, they would pass such a dangerous measure.”
Gutman was referring to Shinui’s decision to support the State budget after receiving an allocation of NIS 700 million for projects favored by the party. Had Shinui not received that appropriation and voted against the bill, new elections would have been called, and the expulsion plan would likely have been disrupted.
The President continued in the same vein as before, saying that while he identified with Gutman’s family’s sorrow, the Knesset, which approved the expulsion plan, democratically represents the nation.
The President thanked Gutman for her statement and expressed his pain over the government’s decision to destroy the Jewish communities of Gush Katif and Northern Samaria.
“Every Israeli citizen needs to feel the pain resulting from a plan to uproot Jewish communities, a difficult decision that’s not limited just to the Knesset. My heart goes out to the Jewish communities of Gush Katif,” the President said.
Student Batya Gutman, of Beit El, suddenly approached the microphone, and asked, "How can the government expel Jews from their homes in Gaza, after the failure of Oslo and four and a half years of war with the Palestinian Authority?"
Arens was startled when she grabbed the microphone, and said that someone else was about to speak before her. But Batya refused to relent, saying she had an urgent question for the President - and Katzav then asked her to speak.
“The first time I met you, Mr. President," she said, "was when you arrived at our home to console my family on the death of my brother, Hezi, who was killed in an IDF operation in southern Gaza two years ago. Sitting next to me is my friend Aliza Siton, whose brother was murdered in a terrorist attack in Itamar.
“I would like to ask you, Mr. President, how we can implement the disengagement plan when we already know the catastrophe of the Oslo accords? We already know the disastrous results of the weapons [that Israel put] in the hands of the Palestinians”
Gutman spoke for about three minutes as her classmates listened attentively, maintaining absolute silence.
As she spoke, the audience saw the President’s wife weeping. When Gutman ended her words, the audience applauded.
The President responded, saying that Israel chose its representatives to the Knesset democratically, and as such, it represents the will of the nation. Gutman interrupted his words: “We didn’t vote so that for the price of NIS 700 million, they would pass such a dangerous measure.”
Gutman was referring to Shinui’s decision to support the State budget after receiving an allocation of NIS 700 million for projects favored by the party. Had Shinui not received that appropriation and voted against the bill, new elections would have been called, and the expulsion plan would likely have been disrupted.
The President continued in the same vein as before, saying that while he identified with Gutman’s family’s sorrow, the Knesset, which approved the expulsion plan, democratically represents the nation.
The President thanked Gutman for her statement and expressed his pain over the government’s decision to destroy the Jewish communities of Gush Katif and Northern Samaria.
“Every Israeli citizen needs to feel the pain resulting from a plan to uproot Jewish communities, a difficult decision that’s not limited just to the Knesset. My heart goes out to the Jewish communities of Gush Katif,” the President said.