Sharon considers delaying Gaza pullout

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is considering delaying the Gaza pullout until mid-August, after the completion of a three-week Jewish mourning period that marks the destruction of the two biblical temples, Israeli officials said today.

The withdrawal from all Gaza Strip and four northern West Bank settlements is scheduled to begin at the end of July and last four weeks.

Yonatan Bassi, the government official responsible for compensating and relocating Jewish settlers, suggested to Sharon during yesterday’s Cabinet meeting that the withdrawal be delayed by three weeks, said Bassi’s spokesman, Haim Altman.

Bassi raised the issue after “an internal struggle and talking to rabbis” and explained Jews were not allowed to move to a new home during the Tisha B’Av mourning period, Altman said.

Asaf Shariv, a top Sharon aide, said the prime minister wanted the evacuation to be over by September 1 when children started school, but after Bassi’s suggestion he was reconsidering.

“We will think about it. We will see what we will do,” Shariv said.

During the three-week period before Tisha B’Av, observant Jews “mourn” the destruction of the two biblical Jewish temples.

During this period, observant Jews don’t shave, go to the beach, get a haircut, listen to music or get married and many eat only dairy products. Tisha B’Av itself is a fast day.

Settler leader Pinchas Wallerstein said they told Sharon months ago that the dates he chose for the withdrawal were problematic, especially for the Gaza settlers, who were largely observant Jews.

“Maybe Tisha B’Av is appropriate. If you want to bring destruction on the nation of Israel maybe it is appropriate to do it on a date known for destruction,” Wallerstein told Israel’s Army Radio, adding that in the end the date of the evacuation was meaningless.

“The date doesn’t matter to us. Our goal is to prevent the withdrawal,” Wallerstein said.