Controversy over Settlements Policy

The controversy over the value and wisdom of Israel’s settlement policy on the West Bank was reflected at the weekly meeting of the World Zionist Organization Executive yesterday where demands were made for the resignation of Raanan Weitz, co-chairman of the WZO’s settlement department.

Weitz, who was not present, was attacked by Rafael Kotlowitz, head of the immigration and absorption department and by settlement department co-chairman Matityahu Drobless for saying publicly that the government should give priority to settlements within the borders of Israel proper rather than in the middle of heavily Arab-populated areas.

Kotlowitz demanded that Weitz either stop urging the government to halt settlements on the West Bank or quit. Drobless accused Weitz of “mixing personal political views with so-called professional arguments.” Eli Tavin, head of the diaspora culture and education department, charged that Weitz was trying to make the WZO Executive the “spearhead to bring down the (Likud) government.

Weitz told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the attacks on him were an “inappropriate response to the serious problems which I raised.” In his speech before the Agriculture Center, Weitz warned that of the 150 settlements established since 1967, about 70 faced severe economic problems. He suggested therefore that the government establish a new list of priorities which would concentrate on settlements in the Jordan Valley, the Negev; Galilee and the Arava district.

“I represent the Labor Party in the Zionist Executive and the views I expressed are precisely the views of the Labor Party,” Weitz told the JTA. “I did not speak on a controversial issue such as the establishment of a Palestinian state but on the fact that Jewish settlements on the West Bank, in the heart of dense Arab population, cause political damage and have no other value.”

Weitz, whose views clash sharply with those of the government, observed: “We cannot do everything simultaneously and therefore we must set a list of priorities. If we continue with the settlement drive on the West Bank we shall not accomplish the important tasks we have in the Golan and the Jordan Valley. I say this on a professional basis regardless of my political views.”

YADIN’S APPEAL REJECTED

Meanwhile, the Knesset Security and Foreign Affairs Committee today rejected an appeal by Deputy Premier Yigael Yadin against two new settlements in Samaria, Rehan and Dotan. The vote to reject his appeal and to approve the settlements was easily arrived at partly because of the support by key Labor Alignment Knesset members. The action was the second and final defeat for Yadin and a victory for Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon who supported the settlements. Yadin lost the first round when the Cabinet last Sunday rejected his appeal.

Each of the two settlements was approved in a separate vote by the Knesset committee. Alignment Knesseters Yigal Allon, Yitzhak Rabin, Adi Amorai, Yehzkel Zakai and Amos Hadar supported the settlement in Rehan. They explained that the previous Labor Party government had already decided to establish that settlement. However, they voted against Dotan. The Likud coalition Knesset members voted in favor of both settlements.