Israel's Gaza pull-out delay raises doubts

Israel is delaying its pullout from Gaza and part of the West Bank, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said, citing a religious mourning period that ends in mid-August – but raising doubts about Israel’s readiness and even its resolve in carrying out the evacuation.

Sharon told TV interviewers yesterday that he would delay the forcible evacuation of settlers after a request from Israel’s chief rabbis to honour a three-week period in which Jews mourn the destruction of the biblical Temples in Jerusalem, ending with a one-day fast – falling this year on August 14.

However, many Jewish authorities have ruled that there is no religious prohibition for carrying out the evacuation during the three-week period, and at most it would be a gesture to the settlers, most of whom are Orthodox Jews.

Many point out that the Jewish calendar was well known when the original timetable was set, leading to the conclusion that the government is not prepared to forcibly evacuate many of the 8,500 Gaza settlers and another 500 in the West Bank, because it has no place to put them – alternate housing has not been arranged. The government insists it is ready.

And sceptics warn that any delay could scuttle the withdrawal altogether, giving opponents more time to organise and allowing for other developments that could interfere – like a renewal of Palestinian-Israeli violence.

Hamas has threatened to abandon a three-month ceasefire unless Israel releases Palestinian prisoners as promised.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, who opposes the pullout, indicated yesterday that it could not take place if the militant Hamas wins Palestinian parliamentary elections in mid-July.

Even one of the strongest supporters of the pullout, Vice Premier Shimon Peres, said in an interview published yesterday that the dispute over whether to leave Gaza houses standing could torpedo the Gaza exit.

Peres told The Jerusalem Post daily that if Israel decides to tear down the houses, it would be responsible for removing the rubble. That could add weeks to the timetable and cost tens of millions of dollars. “This alone can spoil it,” he said.

In a TV interview, Sharon said no decision has been made. ”The only situation where we do not destroy them is if there is full co-ordination with the Palestinians, and that co-ordination is not yet complete,” he said.