The
declaration of enlarging settlements was not the only defiant move by
Israel Monday, as it coincided with another step that was bound to put
heavy challenges on the current shaky ceasefire.
Sharon
gave a strong indication that he will delay the evacuation of settlers
from the Gaza Strip to avoid clashing with a Jewish mourning period,
according to AFP.
Asked
about reports that he would put back by three weeks the withdrawal,
originally due to start on July 20, Sharon said: “We must do
everything we can to facilitate the evacuation”.
The
head of the disengagement office, Jonathan Bassi, suggested at a
cabinet meeting on Sunday, April 17, that the month-long operation be
postponed to allow observant Jews to mourn the destruction of the
so-called second Jewish Temple.
The
week-long commemoration culminates this year on August 14, when many
Jews will observe a 24-hour fast.
Vice
Premier Shimon Peres, on a visit to Paris, also confirmed that a delay
was on the cards.
“I
think that, for religious reasons, we can delay (the withdrawal) by
two or three weeks,” Peres told French television station LCI.
A
source close to Sharon had said the premier was studying the proposal
but was wary of agreeing to a delay which could lead to disruption for
pupils at the start of the new school year.
“We
have already thought about this but there is a problem over the start
of the school year which begins on September 1,” the source told
AFP.
“Serious
Mistake”
But
Israeli Interior Minister Ofer Pines, a member of the center-left
Labour party, warned against any postponement.
“Such
a decision would be a serious mistake which would make the pullout
much more difficult,” he told the Israeli public radio.
One
of the leaders of the settler movement, Pinhas Wallerstein, said he
was amazed that Sharon had set a start date for the operation without
looking at the Jewish calendar.
“The
actual date matters very little. The important thing is to prevent
this evacuation,” Wallerstein, a senior member of the Yesha settlers
council, told the Israeli army radio.
All
8,000 Gaza settlers and several hundred living in four small Jewish
enclaves in the northern West Bank are to be evacuated under
Sharon’s so-called disengagement plan.
