Building Bridges: Evacuation - Compensation - Now

Defense Minister and Labor party Chairman Ehud Barak's announcement that he supports the evacuation/compensation legislature [intended to compensate West Bank residents who wish to relocate to within the Green Line] spurred anew the public debate surrounding the fate of settlements still beyond the security fence.

The waves of terror that plagued Israel earlier in this decade and the construction of the separation fence thereafter brought about a situation in which 65,440 settlers in approximately 74 settlements reside to the east of the fence, deep in the heart of the West Bank.

At the basis of the proposed legislation is the Israeli government's moral obligation to allow settlers who live beyond the fence to re-settle inside the borders of the Green Line. It comes as so surprise that the leaders of the settler movement, officials in the Yesha Council, whose role it is to represent the entire population in the territories, choose to act in a comprehensive manner to the proposed initiative and turn their backs on those who are ready to leave immediately.

It is not the first time that these elected leaders abandon their public for political gain. On the eve of the 2005 disengagement from Gaza, it was these leaders and MKs from the Right who called on the residents of Gush Katif and northern Samaria to reject entering negotiations on compensation plans and to halt all cooperation with the Israel Crisis management Center's [SELA] director.

The Gush Katif evacuees paid a heavy price for boycotting SELA and refusing to abide by government decisions. After the evacuation, they found themselves in financial and emotional crises, some of which were avoidable.

Currently, those on the Right are, once again, opposed to the possibility of settlement residents' opportunity to leave willingly and be compensated for doing so. It is no secret that settler leaders have reason to worry; thousands of settlers no longer believe in the vision of a 'Greater Israel' and understand that the future of the settlements in which they currently reside has already been decided.

Unfortunately for them, these leaders are forced to lead a battle against this new development so as not to expose their ideological distress. If indeed the leaders of the Yesha Council are convinced that the settler population is strong and able to capture every available hilltop in the territories, they should be the first to support the evacuation/compensation scheme and in doing so will prove the adamance of settlers to hold on to all parts of the West Bank.

Legislation of the evacuation/compensation initiative is first and foremost a humanitarian process whose objective is to solve a very difficult situation involving tens of thousands of settlers living with a lack of security, a sense of isolation and knowledge that in the near future, they will be forced to evacuate their homes.

The government of Israel should not conduct political negotiations at the expense of the settlers while leaving them behind as hostages remaining outside the fence. This is the time to direct our gazes to thousands of settlers, to admit to historical errors and to allow thousands of families to return to the boundaries of the Green Line.