Haaretz
Tevet 24, 5765
There is no reason for surprise at the violent
clash between settlers and security forces Monday in the hills near
Yitzhar. For years the settlers managed to prevent any attempt to enforce
the law, always with the assistance of politicians, with regard to their
activities. Never was the law for a Palestinian murderer the same as the
law for a Jewish murderer among the settlers, neither in terms of
investigating fully and certainly not in terms of punishment.
The
law for a trailer illegally brought to Havat Gilad was never the same as
that for a Palestinian house destroyed in the blink of an eye by a
bulldozer - not because the house was illegally constructed, but because
it blocked the line of vision for IDF soldiers. The state never behaved
similarly toward protesters from the left as toward protesters from the
right. Leftist activists who sought to help in the olive harvest near
Yitzhar very often had to turn back because the IDF feared a confrontation
with violent settlers. Very often the path of leftist demonstrators was
blocked by the senior regional commander who declared the area a closed
military zone.
Those who threatened the olive harvesters lived in
that closed area and went on acting violently when they chose to. Just a
year ago, settlers from Yizthar cut down 650 olive trees around the
village of Inbus. To this day it is not known if anyone was
convicted.
The government's double standard toward demonstrators
from the right and the left can also be seen with regard to the matter of
refusal to serve. Conscientious objectors on the left - the signatories to
the pilots' letter and the letter of the members of the elite Matkal unit
- were summarily drummed out of the IDF even before they had actually
refused orders.
Meanwhile, those on the right who signed a petition
of refusal to participate in evacuation enjoy a response that is soft on
the one hand and panicked on the other. No settler who has announced his
intention to disobey an order has been thrown out of the IDF, not even
military rabbis who have stated their intention to follow the dictates of
halakha (Jewish law) issued by civilian rabbis, and not their commanding
officers.
The empathetic attitude toward the breaking of the law by
settlers stems from the mistaken concept that every protest or despicable
act they carry out is done for the sake of heaven and Zionism. The double
standard used with the settlers even now as they strike soldiers, burn
military jeeps and cut off a post from its water supply raises the
question whether the silence of ministers in the face of the violence this
week toward soldiers, especially that of Ariel Sharon and Shaul Mofaz,
does not forebode the complete failure of evacuation. Without political
backing and unequivocal leadership that speaks out clearly, all the
exercises, operational plans and preparation of the security forces will
be for naught.
Soldiers and police, especially the veterans among
them, know the policy of the double and mixed message from experience, and
today too they fear being the vanguard of the naive.
A symbiosis
has developed over the years of occupation between the brigade commanders
in the territories and the settlers, which has allowed the latter to feel
as if they own the soldiers. The soldiers cannot be asked to change their
spots in a moment.
This is the time, therefore, for political and
public leadership. It must transmit a sharply focused message both in word
and deed announcing change, the use of force when necessary, and the
unflinching enforcement of the law. Any weakness will encourage the
settlers to go even further.