FadeTheButcher
07-05-2004, 04:43 AM
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1165406/posts
JERUSALEM -- The head of Israel's Shin Bet security service on Sunday warned that Jewish extremists are becoming more militant, as some prominent rabbis encouraged settlers to resist evacuation from their homes.
Violence continued in the Palestinian territories as an Israeli motorist and a Palestinian gunman were killed in separate shootings in the West Bank, and a Palestinian teenager was shot to death in the Gaza Strip. Also, Israeli border police killed a Palestinian laborer just west of Jerusalem.
The warning from Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter came as Israel prepares to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and four isolated settlements in the West Bank. The evacuations will affect some 7,500 Jewish settlers in Gaza and about 500 of the 230,000 residents of West Bank settlements.
Some settler leaders have said they would resist. Many settlers are religious Jews who believe the West Bank is theirs by divine promise.
Late Sunday, about 1,000 settlers and supporters, including several prominent rabbis and politicians, held a rally at the Western Wall, a retaining wall of the ancient Jewish Temple and Judaism's most sacred shrine. Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, a former chief rabbi of Israel, led a mass prayer session.
Yitzhak Levy, a politician from the pro-settler National Religious Party, said he does not support violence but did not rule out the possibility of fighting.
"The eviction will be tough," he told Israel's Channel Two TV. "But I can't promise it won't be violent, even though we are calling for there not to be violence."
Dichter told a Cabinet meeting Sunday that the threat of extremist violence among Jewish settlers is growing, a government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Jewish militants recently attacked an army officer in Jerusalem because he helped dismantle a synagogue at an unauthorized West Bank settlement outpost, the official quoted Dichter as saying.
In recent weeks, settler leaders and prominent rabbis have spoken out harshly against the government's plan to remove some settlements.
Last month, settler leader Uri Elitzur, a former top aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said violent resistance to settlement evacuations is legitimate. An eminent rabbi in Jerusalem also has said that anyone who removes Jewish settlements would be subject to the death penalty under biblical Jewish law.
Justice Minister Joseph Lapid told the Cabinet meeting that he isn't surprised by the growing threat. He said police's failure to take action against Elitzur was encouraging violence, according to a source close to Lapid.
Israeli security officials confirmed that the Shin Bet has grown concerned.
They said their main concern is the threat of assassination. In 1995, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was murdered by an ultranationalist Jew opposed to his peace efforts. The security officials said they also were preparing for the threat of attacks on Arabs and potential violence against security forces.
Palestinian militants carried out a series of attacks Sunday in the northern West Bank, including a morning ambush that killed a Jewish resident of the Mevo Dotan settlement as he was driving near the town of Jenin, the army said.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militant group claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they were in response to an Israeli raid last weekend that killed its leader.
The Israeli army also killed a gunman who fired at soldiers guarding a Jewish settlement near the West Bank town of Nablus. Palestinians said the man was a local leader of the militant Islamic Jihad group.
In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian militants fired a barrage of rockets against Israeli targets, despite a broad operation in northern Gaza to prevent the attacks. No injuries were reported.
The rocket attack occurred shortly before the Cabinet meeting, where ministers approved a $10.2 million aid package for the border town of Sderot, which was hit by a deadly rocket attack last week.
Media reports said the package had been planned since May. But last week's attack, in which two Israelis died, appeared to have sped up approval.
The Israeli offensive has been focused on the Palestinian town of Beit Hanoun, which has served as a base for the rocket attacks.
In the latest fighting, a 19-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli machine gun fire on Sunday and a 17-year-old boy was wounded in a separate incident, Palestinian medics said. The army was checking the reports.
In all, seven Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli campaign. The slain Palestinian laborer had been driving a van full of workers who had entered Israel illegally, police said. They said the man had ignored orders to halt and was shot after he tried to flee from the vehicle.
JERUSALEM -- The head of Israel's Shin Bet security service on Sunday warned that Jewish extremists are becoming more militant, as some prominent rabbis encouraged settlers to resist evacuation from their homes.
Violence continued in the Palestinian territories as an Israeli motorist and a Palestinian gunman were killed in separate shootings in the West Bank, and a Palestinian teenager was shot to death in the Gaza Strip. Also, Israeli border police killed a Palestinian laborer just west of Jerusalem.
The warning from Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter came as Israel prepares to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and four isolated settlements in the West Bank. The evacuations will affect some 7,500 Jewish settlers in Gaza and about 500 of the 230,000 residents of West Bank settlements.
Some settler leaders have said they would resist. Many settlers are religious Jews who believe the West Bank is theirs by divine promise.
Late Sunday, about 1,000 settlers and supporters, including several prominent rabbis and politicians, held a rally at the Western Wall, a retaining wall of the ancient Jewish Temple and Judaism's most sacred shrine. Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, a former chief rabbi of Israel, led a mass prayer session.
Yitzhak Levy, a politician from the pro-settler National Religious Party, said he does not support violence but did not rule out the possibility of fighting.
"The eviction will be tough," he told Israel's Channel Two TV. "But I can't promise it won't be violent, even though we are calling for there not to be violence."
Dichter told a Cabinet meeting Sunday that the threat of extremist violence among Jewish settlers is growing, a government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Jewish militants recently attacked an army officer in Jerusalem because he helped dismantle a synagogue at an unauthorized West Bank settlement outpost, the official quoted Dichter as saying.
In recent weeks, settler leaders and prominent rabbis have spoken out harshly against the government's plan to remove some settlements.
Last month, settler leader Uri Elitzur, a former top aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said violent resistance to settlement evacuations is legitimate. An eminent rabbi in Jerusalem also has said that anyone who removes Jewish settlements would be subject to the death penalty under biblical Jewish law.
Justice Minister Joseph Lapid told the Cabinet meeting that he isn't surprised by the growing threat. He said police's failure to take action against Elitzur was encouraging violence, according to a source close to Lapid.
Israeli security officials confirmed that the Shin Bet has grown concerned.
They said their main concern is the threat of assassination. In 1995, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was murdered by an ultranationalist Jew opposed to his peace efforts. The security officials said they also were preparing for the threat of attacks on Arabs and potential violence against security forces.
Palestinian militants carried out a series of attacks Sunday in the northern West Bank, including a morning ambush that killed a Jewish resident of the Mevo Dotan settlement as he was driving near the town of Jenin, the army said.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militant group claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they were in response to an Israeli raid last weekend that killed its leader.
The Israeli army also killed a gunman who fired at soldiers guarding a Jewish settlement near the West Bank town of Nablus. Palestinians said the man was a local leader of the militant Islamic Jihad group.
In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian militants fired a barrage of rockets against Israeli targets, despite a broad operation in northern Gaza to prevent the attacks. No injuries were reported.
The rocket attack occurred shortly before the Cabinet meeting, where ministers approved a $10.2 million aid package for the border town of Sderot, which was hit by a deadly rocket attack last week.
Media reports said the package had been planned since May. But last week's attack, in which two Israelis died, appeared to have sped up approval.
The Israeli offensive has been focused on the Palestinian town of Beit Hanoun, which has served as a base for the rocket attacks.
In the latest fighting, a 19-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli machine gun fire on Sunday and a 17-year-old boy was wounded in a separate incident, Palestinian medics said. The army was checking the reports.
In all, seven Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli campaign. The slain Palestinian laborer had been driving a van full of workers who had entered Israel illegally, police said. They said the man had ignored orders to halt and was shot after he tried to flee from the vehicle.