Knesset Approves Disengagement Implementation Law
(February 16, 2005)
The Knesset approved the Disengagement Implementation Law by a wide majority on
February 16, empowering the government to pay
approximately $870 million to 9,000 settlers from the Gaza
Strip and northern West Bank and begin evacuating them in five months.
The law was approved in a 59-40 vote with five abstentions.
The opponents included 17 Likud MKs.
Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon got another boost when the Knesset expressed resounding opposition
to a referendum on disengagement.
It removed a measure that was to have left the door open for a referendum
by putting a 21-day delay on the evacuation order. An amendment to make
the implementation of the law conditional on a referendum was also rejected
in a 72-26 vote, with haredi and Arab parties joining in the vote against
referendum.
The Knesset voted in 1982 to evacuate the Sinai settlements,
but the disengagement plan will require removal of settlements in areas that are considered to
be part of the Land of Israel. The
four isolated northern West Bank settlements are Ganim, Kadim,
Homesh, and Sa-Nur.
The evacuation is scheduled to begin in July 2005,
assuming the decision receives the expected cabinet approval, and the
government does not collapse beforehand. The prime minister and the
defense minister must also issue evacuation orders.
Sources: i>Jerusalem
Post, (February 16, 2005) |