World - Reuters
Israel to Give Cash Advances to Relocate Settlers
Date: Wed, Jul 28, 2004
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel could begin paying cash advances by October to Jewish settlers willing to voluntarily leave homes targeted for evacuation in Gaza and parts of the West Bank, a political source said on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) hopes to encourage some settlers to leave early as he faces stiff resistance to his withdrawal plan from hard-liners who oppose ceding any land Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
Sharon's blueprint for "disengaging" from conflict with the Palestinians calls for removing all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites) and four of 120 in the West Bank by the end of 2005.
Yosef Tamir, an attorney for dozens of settler families facing evacuation, was quoted by Israel Radio saying advances against full compensation could be available in two months.
But Justice Ministry officials declined comment on the proposal, which Tamir said government negotiators outlined on Tuesday in an initial meeting on settler compensation.
The political source said down payments would be made only to settlers willing to leave voluntarily under the Sharon's plan, which won cabinet approval in principle last month.
Senior officials say about 350 settlers have expressed an interest so far in discussing terms for evacuating.
Many of the 8,000 settlers in Gaza and several hundred in the West Bank have vowed to resist eviction.
There was no immediate word on the size of the advances being discussed, but government sources have said each family may receive up to $300,000 in total compensation.
In addition, 100 Israeli businessmen who own factories in the Erez industrial zone on the Gaza border will be able to apply by next month for cash advances on their compensation packages, the political source said.
Estimates of the government bill for the pullout plan run to $1.5 billion.
Sharon said earlier this week there was no turning back on a Gaza withdrawal, even after more than 100,000 Israelis mounted the largest mass protest against the plan on Sunday.
Polls show most Israelis favor leaving Gaza. They see holding onto the densely populated coastal strip, a stronghold of Palestinian militancy, as too costly in money and lives.
Palestinians welcome the idea of an Israeli pullout but fear the U.S.-backed plan is a ploy by Israel to strengthen its hold on the West Bank, where the bulk of settlers live.
SOURCE
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