Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called yesterday on residents of a wildcat Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank to refrain from violence against security forces during their imminent eviction.
"My heart is with you," Netanyahu said in an address to 40 families facing a court order to leave the Amona outpost by December 25 because it was found to have been built on private Palestinian land.
The Amona residents had rejected early Thursday a government proposal to leave voluntarily, raising fears of violence as the relocation deadline approached. "I call on everyone to act responsibly -- do not harm IDF (Israel Defence Forces) soldiers or security forces in any way. These are our sons," Netanyahu said in a video posted on his Facebook page. "There is no room for violence," he said, calling on Amona parents to keep their children away from the outpost during the eviction, the date of which is not publicly known.
Netanyahu also stressed the importance of upholding the law which also applies to illegal Arab construction in Israel.
"The court ruling binds us all, it binds the government too. But the law must be equitable. The same law that necessitates Amona's evacuation necessitates the evacuation of illegal construction in other parts of our country," he said.
"I have therefore ordered to expedite the demolition of illegal construction in the Negev, in Wadi Ara, the Galilee, the centre -- in all parts of the country," Netanyahu said of areas with significant Arab populations.
