Allen Pollock, president of the Labor Zionist Alliance, expressed Friday his “deep disappointment” about a statement by Israeli Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon that called for an intensive Jewish settlement effort on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during the next 20 to 30 years.
Pollack asserted that “the statement by Minister Sharon was politically inappropriate in this sensitive period at the beginning of negotiations between Israel and Egypt on the autonomy plan for the West Bank and Gaza, when it is important to build good relations with Egypt and minimize differences with the United States.”
Such an announcement at this time, Pollack said, was even more inappropriate in view of the opinion stated by Raonan Weitz, co-chairman of the Jewish Agency’s Settlement Department, who on May 16, called for a moratorium an “all settlements in areas of high Arab concentrations Judaea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip.” He noted that Weitz is internationally recognized as an outstanding professional, who has been working on resettlement since 1938.
Pollock called on the Israel Government “to be especially aware of the need to maintain a united Jewish community in support of Israel in these sensitive times and not to take action that may be divisive in the Jewish community as well as exacerbate relations with Egypt and the United States.”
“The present Government of Israel should carry on the tradition of previous Governments,” declared Pollack, “In establishing settlements only in those areas on the West Bank and Gaza which are necessary to the security and defense of the State of Israel, and on which I believe there is a consensus in the American Jewish community.”
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.
