Heated Debate on Settlements Issue

Heated debate on the issue of the settlements on the West Bank marked the start of a session yesterday of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, with some members claiming that despite repeated requests for a discussion on the subject the topic has not been brought to the committee for consideration. They expressed concern that such a situation would continue until the settlements have been well established. “It is not possible that decisions on settlements conceived in the past will be implemented without first discussing them in committee,” said Yossi Sarid, a Labor Alignment committee member.

Committee chairman Moshe Arens noted that he has requested a meeting on the subject with Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon, chairman of the Ministerial Settlement Committee, a number of times but no answer has yet been received.

In related developments, Sharon said yesterday that thousands of Jews can settle in Samaria “without touching a single Arab.” Conducting a press tour of West Bank settlements, Sharon said that the establishment of Jewish-populated strips on the West Bank was a means of halting Arab expansion in the area and widening the Jewish-populated coastal strip.

“It is inconceivable that Arabs will be permitted to live anywhere they want in Israel, while Jews will be forbidden to settle in certain areas,” Sharon declared. He explained that between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, there would be three Jewish-populated strips alternating with two Arab-populated strips. In addition, Jerusalem’s Jewish character would be ensured by encircling the capital with Jewish settlements.

Sharon also claimed that the framework for new settlements on the West Bank is now complete, and that if Israel does not settle now it is doubtful it could do so in the future.

“Israel is now building in the areas the very same security framework needed to solve its security problems,” he said. “The settlements now being established in Judea and Samaria are part of such a plan….We are presently at the height of a settlement wave, and it is our duty to respond.”