Halutz said the IDF would apply the same tactics toward expelling residents from Jewish communities in northern Samaria as it did in Gaza.
The plan is for the IDF to concentrate a very large force of troops in order to eliminate the possibility of violence from both sides.
Halutz said it was “easier” to apply force than avoid it in dealing with Jewish residents resisting forced expulsion from their homes. He praised those residents who left without opposition after conducting a symbolic farewell ceremony in their towns. Halutz was less sympathetic to those who resisted expulsion.
“I can’t understand the mother who sends her three year-old son into some corner while the father takes a child and holds him out the window, like those horrible photos of Michael Jackson,” he said, referring to widely publicized footage of a distraught man yelling at soldiers, "Do you want him? Do you want him?" while holding his infant nephew and leaning out the window of his home.
Halutz said, however, that he thinks most mothers were more protective of their children.
The Chief of Staff said that when the expulsion process is over, he would turn his attention to hesder yeshivas (post-high school religious seminaries that devote time to army service) which encouraged their students to confront expulsion forces on the roof of a synagogue in Kfar Darom.
"Such people are not suited to serve in the IDF," he said.
Halutz said that though there have been some Arab terrorist attacks during the expulsion process, “there have been relatively few incidents.”
Halutz said he was hoping the IDF would complete its withdrawal from Gaza and northern Samaria as soon as possible. “I have no intention to remain in these territories one minute more than required in order to complete the IDF withdrawal,” he said.
Halutz estimated that the IDF would complete its withdrawal before the start of the High Holidays in October.
The plan is for the IDF to concentrate a very large force of troops in order to eliminate the possibility of violence from both sides.
Halutz said it was “easier” to apply force than avoid it in dealing with Jewish residents resisting forced expulsion from their homes. He praised those residents who left without opposition after conducting a symbolic farewell ceremony in their towns. Halutz was less sympathetic to those who resisted expulsion.
“I can’t understand the mother who sends her three year-old son into some corner while the father takes a child and holds him out the window, like those horrible photos of Michael Jackson,” he said, referring to widely publicized footage of a distraught man yelling at soldiers, "Do you want him? Do you want him?" while holding his infant nephew and leaning out the window of his home.
Halutz said, however, that he thinks most mothers were more protective of their children.
The Chief of Staff said that when the expulsion process is over, he would turn his attention to hesder yeshivas (post-high school religious seminaries that devote time to army service) which encouraged their students to confront expulsion forces on the roof of a synagogue in Kfar Darom.
"Such people are not suited to serve in the IDF," he said.
Halutz said that though there have been some Arab terrorist attacks during the expulsion process, “there have been relatively few incidents.”
Halutz said he was hoping the IDF would complete its withdrawal from Gaza and northern Samaria as soon as possible. “I have no intention to remain in these territories one minute more than required in order to complete the IDF withdrawal,” he said.
Halutz estimated that the IDF would complete its withdrawal before the start of the High Holidays in October.