Israeli president fears Sharon assassination

JERUSALEM – Israeli President Moshe Katsav said yesterday the vocal opposition of pro-settler rabbis to Israel’s Gaza pullout could incite ultranationalists to try to assassinate Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

“In the struggle over the disengagement someone is likely to distort the rabbis’ messages,” Katsav told Army Radio. The result, he said, could be “extremist actions” and “the distorted conclusion that to prevent Israel’s destruction, one must assassinate the prime minister”.Katsav made the comments a day after the Shin Bet security service measured Sharon and members of his cabinet for bulletproof vests, a sign of mounting fears of violence against Israeli leaders ahead of the pullout due to begin in mid-August.In recent weeks, some pro-settler rabbis have sharpened their rhetoric against the withdrawal from land they see as a biblical birthright, condemning it as a violation of Jewish law and a danger to Israel’s existence.Such talk has revived memories of the verbal attacks against Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin before he was assassinated in 1995 by an ultranationalist Jew opposed to his peace moves with the Palestinians.Jewish settler leaders have called for passive resistance to the evacuation of all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank.Hoping to sharpen that message, right-wing legislator Effi Eitam said he planned to meet rabbis and settlers to draw up a charter of non-violence to avoid clashes with Israeli soldiers during the pullout.”In this charter we will have a clause specifying there cannot be any (settler) weapons in the evacuation area,” Eitam told Israel Radio.”We are trying to ensure that even if the atmosphere heats up there will be a good chance of preventing a disaster.”Israeli security officials have said they plan to collect the army-issued weapons that many of the 8,500 settlers facing evacuation carry.”We have instructed the security forces in the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank to act with zero patience and zero tolerance towards any act of violence or lawbreaking,” Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said in a speech in Tel Aviv.- Nampa-ReutersThe result, he said, could be “extremist actions” and “the distorted conclusion that to prevent Israel’s destruction, one must assassinate the prime minister”.Katsav made the comments a day after the Shin Bet security service measured Sharon and members of his cabinet for bulletproof vests, a sign of mounting fears of violence against Israeli leaders ahead of the pullout due to begin in mid-August.In recent weeks, some pro-settler rabbis have sharpened their rhetoric against the withdrawal from land they see as a biblical birthright, condemning it as a violation of Jewish law and a danger to Israel’s existence.Such talk has revived memories of the verbal attacks against Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin before he was assassinated in 1995 by an ultranationalist Jew opposed to his peace moves with the Palestinians.Jewish settler leaders have called for passive resistance to the evacuation of all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank.Hoping to sharpen that message, right-wing legislator Effi Eitam said he planned to meet rabbis and settlers to draw up a charter of non-violence to avoid clashes with Israeli soldiers during the pullout.”In this charter we will have a clause specifying there cannot be any (settler) weapons in the evacuation area,” Eitam told Israel Radio.”We are trying to ensure that even if the atmosphere heats up there will be a good chance of preventing a disaster.”Israeli security officials have said they plan to collect the army-issued weapons that many of the 8,500 settlers facing evacuation carry.”We have instructed the security forces in the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank to act with zero patience and zero tolerance towards any act of violence or lawbreaking,” Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said in a speech in Tel Aviv.- Nampa-Reuters