Defense Minister Moshe Dayan criticized the Israeli military last night for carrying out the evacuation of Bedouins from a security area south of the Gaza Strip without proper authorization or orders. Dayan denied, however, that the land was cleared to make way for future Jewish settlement. He discussed the issue at a meeting of the Labor Alignment’s Knesset faction.
Dayan said “The evacuation of the 6000 Raffah Bedouins was carried out without a Cabinet decision, without orders from the Army Headquarters and without the intention of clearing the lands for future Jewish settlement.” He added that the lack of authorization was the principal infringement apart from a number of improper actions in the course of the operations.
The evacuation aroused protests from Mapam circles two months ago, and the Chief of Staff appointed a committee of inquiry which subsequently found that several senior officers had deviated from the authorized procedures during the operation.
Replying to questions on another matter, Dayan said that if Arabs in the occupied territories were permitted to organize politically they would inevitably drift toward political opposition to Israel, manifested through resolutions and even demonstrations. He said the only way to avoid a confrontation was to limit the Arab political organization to the municipal level.
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