US embassy cable - 04TELAVIV1752

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001752 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, IS, KWBG, GAZA DISENGAGEMENT, ISRAELI SOCIETY, ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS 
SUBJECT:  GUSH KATIF VISA APPLICANTS EXPECT PROTESTS AGAINST 
PM'S DISENGAGEMENT PLAN, RESISTANCE IN THE "UNLIKELY" EVENT 
OF AN EVACUATION 
 
 
1.  Summary.  In February, Conoff interviewed three visa 
applicants from the Gush Katif settlement bloc who shared 
their views on PM Sharon's disengagement plan.  The settlers 
said they expected Gush Katif residents to oppose the PM's 
plan through both legal and political channels.  One 
applicant, a 19 year-old woman, reported a prevailing 
inclination among Gush Katif settlers to resist any 
government evacuation of the settlement, while the other two 
applicants, a middle aged couple, asserted that they would 
personally abide by a government order to vacate Gush Katif. 
The 19 year-old woman related that the consensus in Gush 
Katif is that no government will ever remove the Gaza 
settlements.  End Summary. 
 
2.  The first two applicants, a middle-aged couple 
originally from South Africa who associate with the National 
Religious Party, moved to Gush Katif in 1977 because, in 
their words, they felt "Jews should live everywhere in Eretz 
Yisrael" and they "wanted to build something new."  They 
also mentioned that the government's financial incentives at 
the time encouraged them to move.  The couple stated that 
they would certainly abide by any government order to vacate 
Gush Katif.  They said, however, that they would use all 
legal means at their disposal to protest the Prime 
Minister's initiative.  They opined that clearing Gaza of 
settlements would not improve Israel's security because of 
what they termed, "a worldwide Muslim problem" regarding 
terrorism. 
 
3.  The third applicant, a 19-year old woman born and raised 
in Gush Katif who also associates with the National 
Religious Party, reported that the consensus in Gush Katif 
is that no government will ever remove the Gaza settlements. 
According to her, the settlers claim the government has been 
making idle threats to remove them from Gush Katif since 
1978.  Her parents moved to Gush Katif for religious and 
nationalist reasons in 1977, believing that Gaza is part of 
"The Greater Land of Israel" and therefore belongs to them. 
They own greenhouses in Gush Katif and make their living in 
agriculture. 
 
4.  The applicant stated that the prevailing view in Gush 
Katif is that in the current environment, the settlers 
should oppose the PM's plan through political pressure to 
show the government that the Gaza settlers will not submit 
easily to an evacuation.  She stated that if the government 
does move to evacuate Gush Katif, an event the settlers deem 
extremely unlikely, they expect to practice the type of 
resistance used at Yamit in the Sinai in 1982.  According to 
her, the Gush Katif settlers believe that if they make it 
difficult for the government to evacuate their settlement, 
then the government would be loath to remove other 
settlements.  She reported that in the unlikely event of an 
evacuation, her parents would expect financial compensation 
from the government, as their livelihood depends entirely on 
their greenhouses in the settlement.  As for herself, she 
expects that the PM's disengagement plan will ultimately be 
inconsequential and that she will settle in Gush Katif when 
she marries to raise her own children there. 
 
KURTZER