Senior police officials said Sunday that they were considering the option of blocking anti-expulsion protesters from travelling to southern Israel altogether in order to prevent protesters from reaching Sderot, the Kassam rocket battered town set to be the starting point of the marches.
Statements by police officials on Israel's state-run radio stations followed a lengthy meeting with Israeli Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi Saturday night. The officials said that although a final decision had not been reached, the police are not willing to enable the scenario whereby marchers would move toward Gush Katif from Sderot, Netivot and Ofakim - as is planned.
Minister of Public Security Gideon Ezra (Likud) announced his support for the police decision. "We cannot enable them to drive this country crazy two weeks before the Disengagement," he said. "We are speaking about a demonstration whose target is to thwart the Disengagement Plan. If we were talking about a simple rally, then I have no doubt that the police would authorize it."
Ezra later announced that the rally would be permitted if there is a guarantee made to prevent activists from trickling into Gush Katif as a result.
"The Prime Minister must announce that he is allowing this demonstration to take place without pre-conditions," Sderot mayor Eli Moyal told Army Radio.
Education Minister Limor Livnat, who has been demanding the police allow the demonstration against the Disengagement to take place, plans on bringing the matter up at Sunday's cabinet meeting. "This large segment of the public must be allowed to express its protest and remain within the context of the law," she said. "The behavior of the Yesha Council at Kfar Maimon revealed responsibility and an ability to control the situation - therefore, solutions must be proposed now, in order to find a way."
MK Effie Eitam (Religious Zionist Renewal) is scheduled to meet with southern region Police Commander Uri Bar-Lev, to request that he enable both the rally scheduled for Tuesday and the march to Gush Katif to follow. "It is impossible to threaten an entire public," Eitam said. "The police must enable a large segment of the public to protest the Disengagement Plan. If the reasoning of the police is that the marchers must be protected from Kassam rockets, then the residents of Sderot must be evacuated in order to protect them from Kassams as well. The refusal to authorize the rally and march are unacceptable."
"60,000 protesters were at Kfar Maimon and no violence took place whatsoever - we did not break through the fence and march toward Gush Katif. We cooperated with police," Moshe Ben Zimra of the Joint Struggle Committee told host Razi Barkai on Army Radio Sunday morning.
"It is not that you didn't want to - it is that you couldn't because of all the security forces present!" said Barkai.
"If we had wanted to, the tens of thousands could have marched forward, it is that we wanted to demonstrate that we are not the violent people that the press wishes to portray us as," Ben Zimra answered.
MK Aryeh Eldad, a harsh critic of the Yesha Council's decision not to break through the fences of Kfar Maimon toward Gush Katif two weeks ago, is calling upon activists to avoid "dummy" rallies. He is suggesting that activists "use whatever means at their disposal to reach Gush Katif and Gaza's northern Jewish communities directly."
Statements by police officials on Israel's state-run radio stations followed a lengthy meeting with Israeli Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi Saturday night. The officials said that although a final decision had not been reached, the police are not willing to enable the scenario whereby marchers would move toward Gush Katif from Sderot, Netivot and Ofakim - as is planned.
Minister of Public Security Gideon Ezra (Likud) announced his support for the police decision. "We cannot enable them to drive this country crazy two weeks before the Disengagement," he said. "We are speaking about a demonstration whose target is to thwart the Disengagement Plan. If we were talking about a simple rally, then I have no doubt that the police would authorize it."
Ezra later announced that the rally would be permitted if there is a guarantee made to prevent activists from trickling into Gush Katif as a result.
"The Prime Minister must announce that he is allowing this demonstration to take place without pre-conditions," Sderot mayor Eli Moyal told Army Radio.
Education Minister Limor Livnat, who has been demanding the police allow the demonstration against the Disengagement to take place, plans on bringing the matter up at Sunday's cabinet meeting. "This large segment of the public must be allowed to express its protest and remain within the context of the law," she said. "The behavior of the Yesha Council at Kfar Maimon revealed responsibility and an ability to control the situation - therefore, solutions must be proposed now, in order to find a way."
MK Effie Eitam (Religious Zionist Renewal) is scheduled to meet with southern region Police Commander Uri Bar-Lev, to request that he enable both the rally scheduled for Tuesday and the march to Gush Katif to follow. "It is impossible to threaten an entire public," Eitam said. "The police must enable a large segment of the public to protest the Disengagement Plan. If the reasoning of the police is that the marchers must be protected from Kassam rockets, then the residents of Sderot must be evacuated in order to protect them from Kassams as well. The refusal to authorize the rally and march are unacceptable."
"60,000 protesters were at Kfar Maimon and no violence took place whatsoever - we did not break through the fence and march toward Gush Katif. We cooperated with police," Moshe Ben Zimra of the Joint Struggle Committee told host Razi Barkai on Army Radio Sunday morning.
"It is not that you didn't want to - it is that you couldn't because of all the security forces present!" said Barkai.
"If we had wanted to, the tens of thousands could have marched forward, it is that we wanted to demonstrate that we are not the violent people that the press wishes to portray us as," Ben Zimra answered.
MK Aryeh Eldad, a harsh critic of the Yesha Council's decision not to break through the fences of Kfar Maimon toward Gush Katif two weeks ago, is calling upon activists to avoid "dummy" rallies. He is suggesting that activists "use whatever means at their disposal to reach Gush Katif and Gaza's northern Jewish communities directly."