[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: The purpose of the bill is fourfold:
1. The various Leftists who have enjoyed foreign support (financial and otherwise) for their endeavors need to show something to keep on the gravy train.
2. The bill is designed to help straightjacket future Israeli negotiators.
3. It is hopes that giving compensation would "divide and conquer" communities.
4. Offering financial compensation helps to set the scene for arguing that those who remain don't deserve security since they could have left ("why should our sons risk their lives defending these obstinate settlers?").]
From the right:
Cabinet Discusses Enticing Voluntary Yesha Evacuation
(IsraelNN.com) Today’s weekly Cabinet meeting features two controversial items: The offer to compensate Jews for abandoning their homes in Judea and Samaria, and a proposal to restrict Supreme Court powers.
The first item will center around a proposal by Vice Premier Chaim Ramon to offer compensation to Jews who wish to leave their homes in “isolated” Yesha communities. Ramon, formerly of Labor and now of Kadima, has been accused of adopting policies of the far-left Meretz party.
Many ministers have expressed opposition to the very discussion of voluntary evacuation, and criticism has been raised that this is the beginning of “Disengagement II.” Shas leader Eli Yishai, Minister of Industry and Trade, said last week, “The proposal lacks public, legal and humane legitimacy.”
No vote is scheduled for the proposal today.
From the left:
Olmert: We must prepare now for the evacuation of West Bank settlers
Haaretz
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday that the government must begin preparing at once for the evacuation of settlers from the West Bank.At the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting, Olmert said that Israel would likely have to uproot West Bank settlers as part of a future peace agreement with the Palestinians.
In light of Israel’s continuing peace talks with the Palestinians, he added, it would be proper to think about providing cash incentives for settlers to leave voluntarily.
Olmert said it was important to learn from the mistakes of Israel’s last evacuation of settlers – the 2005 pullout from the Gaza Strip – and it was important to plan ahead.
“Since it is possible we will need to make decisions in the future that will involve the evacuation of residents, we should already prepare for this now and think about its consequences, especially while serious [peace] negotiations are being held,” said Olmert.
The prime minister made the comments at the beginning of a debate on Vice Premier Haim Ramon’s evacuation-compensation bill at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. The bill would enable settlers who live beyond the security fence to receive financial compensation for relocating west of it.
Israel evicted 8,500 settlers from the Gaza Strip and four small West Bank settlements in mid-2005. Many settlers refused to plan for or cooperate with the operation. But a government watchdog has accused the government of poorly planning for the settlers after their evacuation, most prominently by not doing enough to move them into permanent housing from temporary quarters.
Olmert added: “Over the last two years, they charged us with not having prepared in an appropriate fashion certain things connected to the disengagement that caused particular suffering to the [evacuated] residents – and now they are saying it’s too early to talk about this, but it is still good to think about how to prepare in the right manner.”
Olmert raised the matter for discussion despite the strong opposition of a number of ministers.
Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz condemned the bill last week at a meeting with activists in the ruling Kadima party.
“The bill weakens the position of Israel in all future negotiations and I will not lend my hand to it,” said Mofaz, a frontrunner in this month’s Kadima leadership battle. Israel and the Palestinian Authority are currently holding peace talks over the future of Israel’s settlements in the West Bank, in addition to other issues such as Palestinian refugees and the Jerusalem.
Yesha Reaction:
Yesha Chief to Ministers: Watch Out for Meretz Data
INN – Danny Dayan, chairman of the Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria, warned the Cabinet ministers that Ramon plans to present them with data compiled by a Meretz member. The findings purportedly show that 40% of the Jews living in Yesha are interested in leaving even before an agreement is reached with the PA, in exchange for compensation.The data was compiled by Ruby Nathanson, a member of the Meretz party directorate, Dayan says. “Ramon granted Nathanson the contract to carry out this poll without a public tender,” Dayan said. “Nathanson is well known for his hostility towards the Jewish settelment enterprise in Yesha, and has publicized in the past exaggerated and baseless figures regarding the cost of Israel’s presence in Yesha.”
The daily Yediot Acharonot newspaper reported that Ramon’s plan offers one million shekels ($280,000) to each family that agrees to leave – plus more for agricultural or commercial land, and more if it moves to the Negev or the Galilee. Only some 62,000 residents of the 290,000 Jews living in Judea and Samaria (not including greater Jerusalem, which boasts another 250,000) are included in Ramon’s proposal.
No Basis in Reality
Dayan said that the 40% figure to be presented today by Ramon similarly has no basis in reality. “The ministers of the Government of Israel would be well advised to know that the Deputy Prime Minister is toying with them, and they should relate to his figures accordingly,” Dayan added.
