Israel Matzav

Good news: IDF planning for next Amona

The IDF believes that the demolition of buildings in Judea and Samaria that are being built in violation of the 'settlement freeze' will lead to demonstrations as violent as those that took place in Amona four years ago.

One officer predicted that level of violence during demolitions would be similar to the resistance security forces encountered during the evacuation of the illegal structures at Amona, overlooking Ofra, in February 2006. During those demolitions, unprecedented clashes erupted between settlers and security personnel, with the latter slammed by a Knesset inquiry for using excessive force. More than 300 people were injured, most of them protesters.

There is also a fear that settlers will take revenge against nearby Palestinians, as allegedly occurred with the arson attack against a mosque in the village of Yasuf last month.

"Demolitions are an escalation for the settlers," one officer explained. "If and when this happens, they will view it as the beginning of a withdrawal from all of the West Bank and will fight hard to stop it."

One defense official warned that if the settlers violently resisted the demolitions, the Defense Ministry would slow down the authorization process for the construction of communal buildings - such as schools - that do not fall under the moratorium order.

"If they do not obey the order there are other measures, such as slowing down the authorization process for public buildings," explained the official. "They will have to decide what they want."

The 'battle plan' sounds remarkably like Amona's too. The only difference is that this time, they've dropped the pretense that the police in the 'inner circle' will be unarmed. Aren't you glad we have a Likud government in power instead of Kadima? Hope and change same.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:47 PM