The most massive effort to date by Israelis to plant settlements in the administered Arab territories on the West Bank in defiance of government policy and regulations appeared to have ended tonight, some 24 hours after it began at the conclusion of the Succoth holidays. Israeli security forces were reported tonight to be still evacuating would-be settlers from scattered sites on the West Bank.
In some cases the settlers offered passive resistance but skirmishes broke out at several points and a number of persons were injured. The number of injuries and number of arrests, if any. were not reported. The armed forces did not use firearms in routing the squatters.
About 1000 supporters of the settlement movement, known as “Gush Emunim,” massed in a downtown Jerusalem park late this afternoon to protest the government’s policy of restricting Jewish settlement in the administered territories. They vowed that they would establish permanent homes in those areas, the government’s objections notwithstanding.
WILL NOT TOLERATE UNAUTHORIZED SETTLEMENTS
Premier Yitzhak Rabin warned, meanwhile, that unauthorized settlements would not be tolerated. Addressing a transportation forum he said that the government had settlement priorities and that extension of settlement around Jerusalem was on top of the list. “There is the Galil and other places and I know that there is a lack of people to settle in these places. It would be better if those trying to settle in unauthorized places would direct
Defense Minister Shimon Peres said it was regrettable that the army had to be occupied rounding up illegal settlers when it had more important duties of defense and training to perform
TIMED TO COINCIDE WITH KISSINGER’S VISIT
The mass trek into the West Bank regions of Judaea and Samaria in which, according to estimates, between 1000-5000 persons participated was obviously a well-planned, well-coordinated movement. Its timing was believed deliberately to coincide with the trip of Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger who arrived in Cairo today on his eighth visit to the Mideast and is due here Saturday night.
The “Gush Emunim” is made up primarily of Orthodox religious militants who insist that all territory west of the Jordan belongs to Israel by Divine right and right-wing nationalist groups such as the “Greater Israel Movement” that refuse to countenance withdrawals from any of the Arab territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war. The settlement effort is also supported by others, neither in the Orthodox or right-wing category, who regard territorial concessions as dangerous to security.
Apparently on pre-arranged plans, hundreds of settlers gathered at more than a score of departure sites last night where trucks and other vehicles waited. One such site was the campus of Bar Ilan University, the Orthodox-sponsored university near Tel Aviv where several thousand people gathered with warm clothing, sleeping bags and water tanks. The group never moved off, however, as the campus was surrounded by police who had been tipped off to the plans.
ROAD BLOCKS EVADED
Police and army units, alerted along the “Green Line.” the boundary between Israel and the. administered territories, set up road blocks on all highways, secondary roads, and even in wadis and cow paths. All vehicles were stopped and their occupants questioned. Groups whose camping gear and other equipment gave away their intentions were turned back. But large numbers–possibly hundreds–managed to evade the road blocks and entered the territories under cover of night.
By morning, squatters were established on at least three points on the West Bank–Nebi Salah. Hirbata and Maaleh Edumim–near Jericho. The Israeli Radio reported clashes between security forces and squatters at Tel Gavir. near the Arab town of Ramallah north of Jerusalem. Air Force planes and helicopters ranged over the West Bank to spot other concentrations of squatters.
RALLIES CALLED TO SUPPORT GOVERNMENT
Meanwhile, groups opposed to the intentions of the settlers movement called rallies to support the government’s policy. The League for the Defense of Democracy composed of representatives of Mapam, the Independent Liberal Party, the Civil Rights Movement, Moked and the Labor Party’s youth circles held a joint press conference in Tel Aviv.
They warned the militant settlers not to confuse the Israeli government with the late British Mandate. Settlement, they said, must be carried out legally without undermining the government’s authority. A group representing the left-wing Moked and Hashomer Hatzair movements occupied an apartment building in downtown Jerusalem this evening to protest the settlement movement. Police dispersed them and 15 persons were detained. Another group of anti-settlement demonstrators sat down outside the Prime Minister’s Office to guard it. they said, against a take-over attempt by militants of the “Greater Israel” movement. No clashes were reported between the pro-settler elements and their opponents.
In the Jerusalem park this afternoon, however, Yuval’ Neeman, president of Tel Aviv University, lauded the settlers movement as the spiritual heirs of the Bilu. the young Russian-Jewish intellectuals who came to settle in Palestine in the 19th century.
Also present at the pro-settlement rally were Rahel Yannait Ben Zvi, widow of the late President Yitzhak Ben Zvi; Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook, religious mentor of the National Religious Party; and NRP Knesset members Zevulun Hammer and Yehuda Ben Meir. They said that the effort to establish a permanent Jewish population in the Sam-aria-Judaea region was “only the beginning.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
