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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=514&ncid=514&e=6&u=/ap/20021020/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians_7557
Jewish Settlers Clash With Police
Sun Oct 20,11:24 AM ET
By LAURIE COPANS, Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM (AP) - The eviction of Jewish settlers from an illegal outpost ignited tempers Sunday with Israel's defense minister accusing settlers of a "revolt," while a religious party threatened to quit the coalition government because the operation began on the Jewish sabbath.
About 400 Jewish settlers and hundreds of police and soldiers scuffled Saturday night as army bulldozers tried to uproot two structures at the Havat Gilad outpost near the West Bank city of Nablus. Twelve police officers and 10 settlers suffered mostly light injuries, rescue officials said.
The confrontation came two nights after the security forces removed settlers from the same rocky hilltop outpost. It was established a year ago after a settler was shot dead by Palestinian militants nearby.
Several hundred settlers returned Sunday morning in an attempt to prevent soldiers from bulldozing one remaining structure, a makeshift synagogue, Army Radio reported. Settlers burned tires and threw water bottles at soldiers in an effort to keep them back, but the soldiers eventually took it down.
Dozens of illegal settler outposts have sprung up around the West Bank. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) says it will not allow new settlements to be built, but will permit the nearly 150 government-authorized settlements to expand.
Palestinians want all settlements removed, and are claiming all the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (news - web sites) for a future state. Palestinians say the settlements are illegal under international law since they are built on land Israel captured during the 1967 Middle East war.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) on Sunday urged the United States to force Israel to pull out of the Palestinian areas during a visit this week of U.S. envoy William Burns.
The settlement issue will be one of the most difficult to resolve in any Mideast peace agreement.
The army operation at the outpost began just after the Jewish Sabbath ended at sundown Saturday, but the soldiers began preparations earlier in the day.
That sparked angry criticism by religious members of Sharon's coalition government, who complained that the soldiers had to leave their bases before the end of the sabbath.
Israeli law prevents government activity from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday in accordance with Jewish law — although there is an allowance for security needs which has translated into regular army activity on sabbath in the past. Violations of the Sabbath have caused government crises in the past.
Shaul Yaalom, a lawmaker of the National Religious Party, said he would recommend his party withdraw from the coalition if Sharon does not order an investigation into why the operation began before the end of the sabbath.
Effie Eitam, leader of the NRP, demanded that Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer resign over the violation of the sabbath. Ben-Eliezer, in response, warned that he would quit if Sharon did not voice support for the decision to evacuate the outposts.
Ben-Eliezer warned of civil strife if settler leaders didn't rein in their constituents.
"The revolt of the settlers against authority is a danger to our existence," he told Israel Radio.
Apparently fearing a crisis, Sharon condemned the timing of the evacuation but called for settlers to leave illegal outposts peacefully.
"I want to express great sorrow in my name and the entire Cabinet for the unnecessary, mass violation of the sabbath that was imposed on hundreds of soldiers when they evacuated Havat Gilad," Sharon told his Cabinet Sunday.
In a rare criticism of settlers, Sharon also condemned their refusal to evacuate the Havat Gilad outpost.
"A number of very grave statements were made here, and the most serious thing of all was violence against soldiers and the security forces," Sharon told the Cabinet. "There is no issue which justifies violence against soldiers and the security forces."
Ben-Eliezer announced this month that the illegal outposts would be dismantled. Of 30 slated for evacuation, 20 have already been taken down, said Amikam Tzirsky, an aide to Ben-Eliezer on settlement affairs.
Meanwhile, Ben-Eliezer said the army was trying to work out a deal with the Palestinians by which Israeli troops would pull out of West Bank areas they took over in June after suicide bombings in Israel.
Ben-Eliezer said last week that the army would pull out of the West Bank city of Hebron if the situation remained calm. Israeli radios reported that Sharon, Ben-Eliezer and security officials decided in a meeting Sunday that the army would begin thinning troops in the city in the coming days.
The Israeli army lifted the long-running curfew for several hours in the West Bank cities of Nablus, Tulkarem and Ramallah on Sunday, the army said.
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