Israel prepared to pay Jewish settlers willing to move

JERUSALEM – Israel could begin paying cash advances by October to Jewish settlers willing to voluntarily leave their homes in West Bank and Gaza Strip enclaves slated for evacuation, a lawyer representing them said yesterday.

Prime minister Ariel Sharon is encouraging the settlers to leave early as part of his plan to dismantle all Gaza Strip settlements and four West Bank communities by the end of September 2005. The Cabinet approved the plan in June.Joseph Tamir, who represents 90 settler families, said justice ministry officials told him Tuesday that settlers could begin receiving government compensation in the next two months.A justice ministry spokesman declined to comment.Tamir said the officials would not specify the size of the advances, nor promise that the funds would be large enough to allow settlers to purchase homes in other locations.”They were playing their cards very close to the chest,” Tamir said.”But an advance that does not reflect the ability to buy a new home is not realistic.”Most of the 8 000 Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip have vowed to try to stop Sharon’s pullout plan.Unlike many of the settlers, Tamir said almost all his clients had no ideological attachment to the Gaza Strip or the West Bank and had moved their for economic reasons.Many settlers believe the West Bank and Gaza Strip are part of the biblical land of Israel promised to the Jews in the Bible.Tamir said a few settlers he represents are from Gush Katif, a bloc of Gaza Strip enclaves that is the centre of the area’s ideological base.The government also was conducting compensation talks over 200 businesses in the Erez Industrial Zone at the northern border of the Gaza Strip, half of them owned by Jews and half by Palestinians, Tamir said.The army is preparing for the possibility of settler violence at the time of the Gaza withdrawal, and Sharon must decide what to do with the infrastructure left behind after 21 settlements are evacuated.Israeli media have said the total cost of the withdrawal – including compensation and removing military installations – could be as high as US$1,9 billion.- Nampa-APThe Cabinet approved the plan in June.Joseph Tamir, who represents 90 settler families, said justice ministry officials told him Tuesday that settlers could begin receiving government compensation in the next two months.A justice ministry spokesman declined to comment.Tamir said the officials would not specify the size of the advances, nor promise that the funds would be large enough to allow settlers to purchase homes in other locations.”They were playing their cards very close to the chest,” Tamir said.”But an advance that does not reflect the ability to buy a new home is not realistic.”Most of the 8 000 Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip have vowed to try to stop Sharon’s pullout plan.Unlike many of the settlers, Tamir said almost all his clients had no ideological attachment to the Gaza Strip or the West Bank and had moved their for economic reasons.Many settlers believe the West Bank and Gaza Strip are part of the biblical land of Israel promised to the Jews in the Bible.Tamir said a few settlers he represents are from Gush Katif, a bloc of Gaza Strip enclaves that is the centre of the area’s ideological base.The government also was conducting compensation talks over 200 businesses in the Erez Industrial Zone at the northern border of the Gaza Strip, half of them owned by Jews and half by Palestinians, Tamir said.The army is preparing for the possibility of settler violence at the time of the Gaza withdrawal, and Sharon must decide what to do with the infrastructure left behind after 21 settlements are evacuated.Israeli media have said the total cost of the withdrawal – including compensation and removing military installations – could be as high as US$1,9 billion.- Nampa-AP