The government is trying to persuade the Gush Emunim to postpone their new mass settlement drive into the West Bank scheduled to begin later this month. Indications that the Likud government may be responding to international political pressure to restrain the militant Gush appeared yesterday when Premier Menachem Begin addressed ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of the restoration of the Etzion bloc settlements south of Jerusalem.
Begin made no mention of settlement plans for the West Bank, a subject on which he has been outspoken in the past. He said that those who support Israel’s right to the entire country have a humanitarian vision of Arabs and Jews living side by side on the same land. “Our vision for the future is peaceful co-existence of a Jewish majority and an Arab minority in the Jewish State,” Begin declared, adding that the time has come to end bloodshed and “to start building a life of cooperation between Jews and Arabs.”
But the thousands of celebrants, who had expected another tough statement in support of their settlement plans for the Judaea and Samaria regions, were disappointed. Begin confined his speech to reminiscences of the past, dwelling on the rebuilding of the Etzion settlements after the Six-Day War. The Etzion bloc was captured by Jordanian forces during Israel’s war for independence in 1948.
Earlier, Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon, one of the strongest advocates of massive Jewish settlement on the West Bank, met with members of the Gush Emunim secretariat and asked them to hold off on their plans. The Gush leadership announced at a press conference last Thursday that 12 new settlements would be established on the West Bank during the Sukkot holiday period beginning Sept. 26. They said the settlements would be started with or without government assistance and services.
Sharon, who urged restraint, said he spoke in behalf of Begin. The Gush leaders said they would meet with Begin during the next few days for a “decisive” discussion. Some ministers reportedly have said that if the Gush attempted to settle without government approval they would be removed, by force if necessary.
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.
