Israel Matzav

Revenants construct 11 new outposts

The revenants have just about completed constructing 11 new 'outposts' in Judea and Samaria - just in time for Prime Minister Netanyahu's meeting with US Special Middle East envoy George Mitchell.

Activists on Sunday announced that they wished to "put an end to the White Papers," and called for assistance in constructing the 11 outposts, an allusion to the 11 settlements established in the Negev during the British Mandate.

Living up to their promises, dozens of activists - mostly youths - constructed several outposts on Monday evening as hundreds of people rallied outside Netanyahu's Jerusalem home to protest against a settlement freeze. Among the new outposts, structures were built at the Netzer outpost between Alon Shvut and Efrat, Inbalim near Ma'ale Michmash, Tzuryah near Avnei Hefetz, Oz Yonaton near Kochav Yaakov and Givat Egoz near Neriya. One of the outposts, Netzer, had already been evacuated by the IDF by Monday night.

The allusion to 11 'settlements' in the Negev refers to this:

After publication of a British Foreign Office and the American State Department plan seeking to retain the Negev as a British neutral zone, it was decided to begin settling the Negev immediately. On the night following Yom Kippur, 6 October 1946, 11 homah umigdal (tower and stockade) settlements went up in the Negev. These 11 settlement points subsequently served as important bases for the Jewish military forces who stopped the Egyptian invasion during the War of Independence, and they had significant impact on where Israel's western border was ultimately drawn.

At least someone knows some history in this country.

Realistically, so long as there are Jews living in Judea and Samaria, it is virtually impossible for the IDF to totally prevent small groups from seizing a hill here and a hill there and setting up an 'outpost.' Unless the IDF isn't going to do anything else - which is an unrealistic and dangerous prospect.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:48 AM