The mayor of a Gaza settlement creates an uproar in Israel, revealing the growing polarisation of its society. Over the last week, the Israeli media was focussed on domestic issues, particularly the question of whether the opposition Labour Party would join the Likud government led by Ariel Sharon. The Labour Party represents the heart of the Israeli centre-left and was the virtual sole ruling party prior to 1977. Since then, the premiership has alternated between Likud and Labour. Labour has joined Likud in national unity governments before, but this week it agreed to join Sharon's government to give him a parliamentary majority, thus helping him implement the disengagement plan, which calls for a unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the dismantling of four settlements in the northern West Bank. After Labour agreed to join the government, attention turned to the parliamentary amendments necessary to allow Labour Party leader Shimon Peres to share the post of deputy premier with Ehud Olmert, as Israeli law specifies that there be only one deputy prime minister. Amidst the coalition negotiations, a new issue suddenly hit the headlines: settler leaders called on other settlers to resist the evacuation and stand up to soldiers to prevent it, even if the price is prison. The call to resistance, issued by Pinchas Wallerstein, the mayor of the Benjamin settlement, created an uproar in Israel, revealing the growing polarisation of Israeli society. After Wallerstein distributed his statement among settlers, Israeli Attorney-General Mani Mazuz held a special session with the state prosecutor on Monday to discuss the possibility of launching a criminal probe into Wallerstein, on the grounds that the statement contains explicit calls to break the evacuation law. Efrat Weiss and Diana Bahor-Nir wrote in an article entitled "Wallerstein letter extremely harsh", published in Yediot Aharonot online on 20 December, "Commenting on Wallerstein's letter, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said, 'These are very harsh statements. I've known Pinchas Wallerstein for many years, and I don't think this is his way. I know the pain of evacuation -- it's painful for me too -- but it's necessary. We will do everything we can to uphold the law. The disengagement plan will be implemented according to the proposed schedule determined by the government.'" The article added, "Sources close to the prime minister said, 'The leaders of various segments of the population must show discipline. Public representatives should show caution in their statements. The issue is how will their followers interpret these statements? Perhaps a majority of the public considers such statements to be a form of legitimate protest, but it's enough that some will see them as legitimising violent resistance. We must therefore approach the situation with the most serious scenarios in mind. This is similar to the call to refuse to serve in the military. These things should neither be said nor done.' "'Acting Minister of Justice Tzipi Livni said shortly before the meeting with the state prosecutor, 'It is not a matter of right or left, but of upholding the law. Even if I sympathise with the price the settlers will pay, these sorts of letters add a huge price: the price of Israeli democracy. Letters like this will not prevent the evacuation, but they violate the basic laws of the state of Israel. We must mobilise both the left and the right, together, and speak in a loud voice.'" Israeli Minister of Domestic Security Gideon Ezra called on Mazuz to investigate Wallerstein's statements. Ezra told Yediot Aharonot 's online in Arabic ( Arabynet ), "The fact that Wallerstein holds an important position requires that this be investigated and a decision be made. These sorts of statements have no benefit. I call on him to retract them, and I ask the public to act wisely, in accordance with government decisions." As for Wallerstein himself, he told Arabynet that he was sick of being on the outside and would prefer to be in prison, saying that he didn't fear prison and he hoped there were others like him. "The limits of obedience are unclear," he said, adding that he did not intend to call on soldiers to refuse to follow orders. The left launched a strongly worded attack on Wallerstein, and many prominent leftist figures asked the attorney general to put him before a court trial. "Encouraging the public to break the law is incitement to rebellion, and the inciters must be tried," said Peace Now Director Yariv Oppenheimer. MK Zahava Gal-On (Yachad) also called for an investigation of Wallerstein. "The Setters' Council is publicly calling on people to break the law," she said. "These statements are the fruit of the authorities' unwillingness to apply the law over many years." MK Reshef Chayne (Shinui) said that attempts by settler leaders to delegitimise the right of the government and the Knesset to make democratic decisions only serves to delegitimise the settlers themselves. "They use democracy as a means to achieve their non- democratic objectives," he said. "The state must act responsibly and leave Gaza and other settlements. Anyone who rejects this must be treated as a lawbreaker." MK Ophir Pines (Labour) also attacked Wallerstein, calling his statements incendiary. "The attorney- general has no legal choice but to press charges against Wallerstein," he said. In contrast, Nationalist Union MK Arieh Eldad supported Wallerstein saying, "every citizen has the right to protest and demonstrate against the racist law that will expel Jews, even if the price is prison." The following day, Efrat Weiss wrote an article entitled "Settlement rabbis support Wallerstein letter": "On Tuesday morning, the Settler Rabbis Council expressed its support for Benjamin Mayor Pinchas Wallerstein. They also stood behind members of the Settlers Council who expressed their support for Wallerstein's letter, which calls for 'resisting the evacuation of settlements even if the price is prison.' "The rabbis referred to Rabbi Avraham Shapira's ruling on disobeying orders to evacuate settlements saying, 'thanks to their steadfastness to maintain all of Israel, their efforts to thwart the attempt to uproot Jews from their homes, and their heroism, we shall obtain a leadership based on our holy Torah. The public will obey the orders of the leaders of this generation, who have decided how the security forces will act.' On the same day, Tal Rosner wrote an article for Yediot Aharonot online entitled "Members of the Constitutional Committee support Wallerstein." "Apparently breaking the law has won the support of the Knesset's Constitutional Committee," the article said. "Many committee members expressed their support on Tuesday for Pinchas Wallerstein's statements, in which he said that the disengagement plan should be resisted even if the price is prison. "MK Yitzhak Levy (National Religious Party) was the first to mention Pinchas's name in the debate on the evacuation and compensation law. 'Wallerstein doesn't want to go to prison, but he wants to protest in a reasonable manner and demonstrate,' he said. 'He did not talk about violence.' Levy explained his opposition to the law that would impose prison time on anyone who obstructs the evacuation of settlers by police and soldiers. For more details on the debate, please visit Arabs Against Discrimination www.aad-online.org By Emad Gad
