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Settler "resistance has been futile" |
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by haaretz via gehrig
Email: zemblan (nospam) earthlink.net (verified) |
20 Aug 2005
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"Gush Katif has not turned into the war of Gog and Magog; neither has it become Masada. With two-thirds of the evacuation already completed, it is possible to say with a fair degree of confidence that the resistance has been weaker than expected. " |
Analysis / Resistance has been futile
By Amos Harel
The fourth day of the disengagement was filled with drama and crises: the masses who barricaded themselves into the Neveh Dekalim synagogue, the violent incident on the roof of the Kfar Darom synagogue, Arye Yitzhaki's threats in Kfar Yam.
But, despite the great efforts needed to resolve these crises without loss of life, the overall picture has not changed: It will take an extraordinary event to keep the evacuation from being completed by the end of next week. So far, all the assumptions made by the media beforehand have collapsed one by one.
There has been almost no violence, no use of weapons. Indeed, the most impressive aspect of the disengagement thus far has been its complete adherence to plan. Particularly noteworthy was the effectiveness of the mental preparation given the evacuating forces. Soldiers and policemen have demonstrated amazing restraint in response to insults and provocations. There has been no loss of control. Physical force has been used only as a last resort. Of the nine cases in which people barricaded themselves in and threatened violence, seven ended without serious injury (two were still in process as of this writing). The rabbis' calls for restraint and nonviolence and the mediation of public figures from the religious sector also helped calm the situation.
Since the disengagement began, only two soldiers have refused to obey orders, despite the numerous predictions of mass refusal. Soldiers who experienced momentary difficulties were allowed to take a break and rejoin the ranks when they had recovered their equanimity. Even when Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, who has openly called for refusal, was evacuated from Kfar Darom yesterday, several of his students, members of the army unit guarding the settlement, neither protested nor abandoned their task.
As for the soldiers assigned to the "outer circles" - keeping reinforcements from reaching the settlements - they had no work to do, because the reinforcements never arrived.
Life in the center of the country, contrary to the predictions of both the police and the media, has largely not been disrupted. Few roads have been blocked, infrastructure has not been destroyed. This is partly because the anti-disengagement activists' spirit was undermined by the evacuation's rapid progress, but also because many of the potential troublemakers infiltrated into Gaza instead.
So far, the evacuation is progressing even faster than planned. The preparations by the army and police, and the coordination between them, has proved exemplary. Even the food is arriving on time. This is the biggest logistical operation the army and police have undertaken since the 1982 Lebanon War, but so far, everything is going like clockwork. Even the Palestinians have not interfered. Nor, contrary to the media's fears, has press coverage of any incident been hampered.
Gush Katif has not turned into the war of Gog and Magog; neither has it become Masada. With two-thirds of the evacuation already completed, it is possible to say with a fair degree of confidence that the resistance has been weaker than expected. Senior officers explained yesterday: "Our logistics killed them." The evacuating forces' ability to deploy large numbers of troops in several places at once left the resisters with few options.
But beyond the praise due the army and police, these events sent an important message to the citizens on the home front. The state is evidently winning this conflict. The challenge to the rule of law, and to the implementation of democratic decisions made by the cabinet and Knesset, has been thwarted. But an army brigade commander, who shares this assessment, urged his colleagues not to celebrate their victory. "We must not crush them," he said. "The settlers gave us a good fight, and most refrained from excessive violence. They can be expected to do some major soul-searching about why they invested 30 years of effort in the land instead of in their fellow citizens. Our job, in the Israel Defense Forces, is to help heal these rifts."
Not all his colleagues agree. Field officers with children were disgusted by the use settler parents made of their children during the struggle. Others were revolted by the insults and incitement. And almost all are skeptical about existing arrangements with the religious community. "I don't know a single battalion commander who would agree to send a yeshiva student to an officers' course after this," said one senior commander.
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See also:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/614593.html
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This work is in the public domain |
