The Associated Press today reported that security sources in the Israeli army and the security establishment think that 90% of settlers scheduled to be evacuated as part of the disengagement plan will resist evacuation. Political sources in Jerusalem said that the strongest opposition will not come from residents of Gush Katif, but from settlers in Judea and Samaria .
The sources said that the IDF has completed plans to evacuate 21 settlements in Gush Katif and four settlements in Samaria . The plan, scheduled to be implemented next year, has already been submitted to Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz.
According to announcements, the evacuation will begin on July 3, 2005, and will take 12 weeks. Some 8,800 settlers will be removed from their homes as part of the evacuation, the vast majority of them in Gush Katif.
Ranaan Gissen, the Prime Minister's media advisor, said that the army is always prepared for the most extreme scenarios. “The Prime Minister believes that there will be less opposition to the evacuation than the army expects,” Gissen said.
At the end of last month, the Knesset approved the disengagement plan by a wide margin, with 67 MKs voting for it, compared to 45 MKs who opposed it. In March, the evacuation plans will be submitted to the government for approval. |