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Sharon, the settlers, and the threat of radical Jewish terrorism in Israel
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| 02 July 2003 |
By David Eshel
Israeli military clearance of Jewish settlements in the West Bank is now well underway as part of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's commitment to the international 'road map' for an Arab-Israeli peace agreement. While clashes between troops and settlers have occurred on several of the smaller, isolated sites, to date the violence has not been serious. However, Israeli security services have privately expressed concern that as the clearance programme pushes on toward larger settlements, Jewish right-wing extremists might resort to armed resistance or terrorism.
Many of the newer West Bank settlements are manned by small groups of ultra-radical Jews often dubbed 'hilltop youth'. Mainly young, second-generation settlers, this so far little known faction has been the focus of a recent study funded by the Research & Development Centre Samaria & Jordan Rift and the Faculty of Jewish Studies at the Bar Ilan University School of Education. This and other studies have concluded that the 'hilltop youth' movement could be key in Israel's internal political struggle over the implementation of the international road map. Israeli authorities harbour concerns that clandestine networks within this movement may resort to terrorism in response to further settlement clearances.
Meanwhile, Israeli security services continue to monitor the threat from existing Jewish radical groups such as Kach and Kahan Chai, who may also conduct major terrorist attacks aimed at completely wrecking the road map. The US State Department lists both of these groups as foreign terrorist organisations.
Although Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has met with leaders of the settler movement in efforts to convince them to reach an agreement in which they would voluntarily evacuate certain outposts, these attempts have proven unsuccessful. While opposing any compromise, most leaders have promised that any protests over settlement clearance will be non-violent. However, they have warned that confrontations over 'inhabited' outposts on sensitive locations could 'get out of hand', and stated that they could not be held responsible for the actions of what they called 'irresponsible fringe elements'.
The Israeli security forces do have some experience of settlement clearance in the West Bank. Last October, soldiers clashed with large mobs of enraged settlers for days at Havat Gilad, near the Palestinian town of Nablus. Fortunately the clashes did not escalate to the use of firearms, though settlers were spotted at the scene holding assault rifles. This time, however, the situation may be different. Sharon's pledge at the Aqaba summit to dismantle what he termed "unauthorised outposts" would involve between 20 and 100 settlement clearances, about half of which are occupied by uncompromising young settlers.
However, it was Sharon's statement at Aqaba on "understanding the importance of territorial contiguity in the West Bank for a viable Palestinian state" which held the truly explosive element. Establishing such contiguity would almost certainly involve the clearance of several highly sensitive settlements inhabited by, until recently, hundreds of Sharon's most ardent supporters. This goes some way to explaining the concerns within the Israel Security Agency over the personal safety of the Prime Minister and his entourage.
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