Rabbis protest 'dangerous' Gaza plan

March 14, 2005

Two of Israel's leading rabbinic authorities have declared a public fast day tomorrow to protest Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's planned withdrawal this summer from Gaza and parts of the West Bank, while a group of Orthodox rabbis from across the political spectrum have issued a call for world Jewry to save them from what they say are dangerous actions by the Israeli government.

Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Avraham Shapira and former Chief Sephardi Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu declared a day of public fasting from sunset tonight to sunset tomorrow in hopes of altering Israel's decision to vacate Jewish settlements they worry will be used by Palestinian terrorists to stage attacks against Israel. The Ashkenazi sect represents Jewry of European ancestry; Sephardi denotes Jews of Middle Eastern decent.

The rabbis will address a rally tomorrow at Gush Katif, the largest Gaza settlement slated to be evacuated, where they will call on the Jewish state to abandon the withdrawal plan.

Emily Amrusy, a spokeswoman for the Yesha settlers council, explained tomorrow was chosen to hold the fast because it coincides with the date of the Jewish calander on which Moses, who commanded the Jewish nation to settle the land of Israel, is believed to have died.

"For the first time in the country's history, great rabbis of religious Zionism have called for a day of fasting and prayers by the authority of Jewish law," Amrusy said.

Meanwhile, Israel's Rabbinical Council for Peace, a group of some of the most prominent Jewish rabbinic leaders, have issued a statement asking world Jewry to "open your eyes and see what the government of Israel is planning to do."

"Jewish communities that are more than three decades old will be destroyed; Torah centers and Yeshivas will be torn down; cemeteries where terror victims lie will be given over to the very hands who slew them; parents and grandparents, young children and flowering youth will be driven from their homes; business and corporations employing thousands will be closed; and most of all a victory for terror will be granted. Our enemies will celebrate in the streets and be encouraged to further acts of violence."

"Jews throughout the land of Israel will be endangered when the bases of terror will be brought closer to their homes and thousands of terrorists will be set free. Success that our foes could never dream to achieve will be handed to them. For what? What is being gained in return? There are still terror alerts throughout Israel. ... Suicide bombers are blowing themselves up in the heart of Israel murdering innocent Jews."

Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Lewin, executive secretary of the Rabbinical Congress for Peace, told WND "it must be stressed that the withdrawal isn't just about settlements. This is going to put Israel proper into danger. The terrorists are getting land that puts them closer to major Israeli population centers and they are developing rockets and mortars that get more and more sophisticated and further reaching. Soon they'll be able to attack other parts of Israel."

The evacuation from Gaza has been mostly portrayed by the Israeli government as a separation from the Palestinians, who turned down an offer of a state at Camp David in 2000, and instead launched a terrorist war that Israel says proves the Palestinians are not negotiating partners and that the Jewish State has no choice but to separate itself until a Palestinian leadership emerges that is willing to make peace.

But the details of the plan, recently released on the website of the office of the prime minister, seem to indicate that after the plan is implemented, Israel will continue to maintain strong ties to the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

The premise of the plan states "the process of disengagement will serve to dispel claims regarding Israel's responsibility for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip," but the official text later details that Israel will be obligated to continue to "provide water pipes, electricity, industrial zones, markets, employment and an industrial zone to sustain the Palestinian Arab economy of Gaza."

The plan mandates "other existing arrangements, such as those relating to water and the electromagnetic sphere shall remain in force" while "economic arrangements currently in operation between Israel and the Palestinians shall, in the meantime, remain in force."

Economic arrangements that will continue after the Gaza disengagement include: "the entry of workers into Israel in accordance with the existing criteria; the entry and exit of goods between the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Israel and abroad; the monetary regime; tax and customs envelope arrangements; postal and telecommunications arrangements."

The plan also obligates Israel to "improve the transportation infrastructure in the West Bank in order to facilitate the contiguity of Palestinian transportation."

The withdrawal document says Israel will provide "advice, assistance and training" to "the Palestinian security forces for the implementation of their obligations to combat terrorism and maintain public order, by American, British, Egyptian, Jordanian or other experts, as agreed with Israel."

The plan continues, "Israel will be willing to consider the possibility of the establishment of a seaport and airport in the Gaza Strip, in accordance with arrangements to be agreed with Israel."

In the past, Palestinian security forces have been accused by Israel of being complacent in acts of terror, and the Palestinian Authority has used its control of sea and airports to smuggle weapons into their territory to use against Israel.

Rabbi Joseph Garlitzky, chairman of the Congress for Peace, said, "This so called plan isn't about separating from the Palestinians. It's about giving into terror, pure and simple."

SOURCE: World Net Daily