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September 10, 2004/Elul 24 5765, Vol. 57, No. 1
Police prepare for Gaza evacuation
GIL SEDAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM - Despite political hurdles, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is forging ahead with his Gaza disengagement plan, giving various government agencies the green light to prepare for the evacuation of settlers - using both carrots and sticks.
Even as Israeli police begin laying the groundwork for evacuating Gaza, an inter-ministerial team of some 70 officials is working out details of a bill to compensate evacuees in hopes that the prospect of money and alternate housing will help avert a violent confrontation between settlers and police.
Despite police objections - "no budget, no manpower" - the Cabinet decided that Israeli police would perform the actual evacuation.
Tzachi Hanegbi, who resigned recently as minister of internal security, wanted the army to do the job, as it did in the evacuation of Yamit in northern Sinai 22 years ago. But most ministers preferred to spare young soldiers the experience of a potentially violent confrontation with Jewish citizens.
So police have begun making necessary pre-parations. Step one: allo-cating the funds.
Not only will the government need to pay generous compen-sation to evacuated settlers - about $400,000,000 - the actual process of evacuation will require substantial funds. Police Inspector General Moshe Karadi met Sept. 5 with senior officers to assess the costs involved.
The cost of the evacuation will depend on the scope of resistance, both in Gaza and in Israel proper. No one knows for sure how many people will actively resist the evacuation, or over what period of time. Therefore it's not only a matter of budget but of recruiting the necessary manpower.
It's assumed that large police forces will be kept busy not only in the Gaza Strip but also within Israel, dealing with demonstrations against the disengagement.
Police were planning to set up an "evacuation administra-tion" comprising two arms, one responsible for planning the evacuation and the other for carrying it out. The Border Police, which usually is deployed in the territories to deal with the Palestinian population, has been selected to evacuate the settlers.
The Border Police plans to reinforce its 12 companies with an additional 20 reserve companies, which will free up regular forces to cope with the evacuation.
Sharon hopes to create sufficient motivation among settlers to evacuate their homes willingly in exchange for generous compensation packages, avoiding violent confrontations like those in Yamit.
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