First of all, I would like to thank everyone who helped with this position paper. My thanks to Professor Aviezer Ravitzky, a Senior Fellow at The Israel Democracy Institute, for commissioning this position paper and for his guidance throughout the process. My thanks also to Professor Arye Carmon, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, for the guidance he gave me during the various phases of my work and the opportunity to conduct research under the aegis of the Institute. I also extend my thanks to Ms. Lorraine Gastwirt, administrative vice president of the IDI, who guided me faithfully from the administrative standpoint through the entire project. And, finally, my deep thanks to all the interviewees who gave me their time and shared their experience with me.
There is a rather long history to this position paper. Its initial draft was written in December 2001. In the wake of the June 2003 Aqaba Conference, when the issue of possible evacuation of settlements in Yesha became even more relevant, at least partly because of Likud Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s official commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian state through “painful concessions” on the part of Israel, I was asked to update the position paper. I then held discussions with additional people who were not included in the initial interviews. Therefore, among the interviewees are some figures who are not currently involved in the Yesha issue. One important interviewee, the late Professor Ehud Sprinzak, passed away since my interview with him.
I would like to thank all the interviewees, listed below:
Yigal Amitai – spokesperson for the Tekuma Party (one of the factions of the National Union Party); resident of Yitzhar
Aharon Domb – former director general of the Yesha Council
Uri Elitzur – editor of Nekudah (the settlers’ magazine); former head of the prime minister’s office under Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
Shlomo Filber – former director general of the Yesha Council
Yitzchak Findrus – mayor of Betar Ilit
Professor Amiram Goldblum – member of the Peace Now Central Committee since 1980 and one of the leading figures of the Peace Now movement; founder and head of the movement’s Settlements Watch Committee
Yonah Goodman – former director general of the Bnei Akiva youth movement; an educator in Yesha
Itai Harel – guide of young settlements in the “Amanah” movement (the settlers’ settlement movement); former social worker in the Benjamin Regional Council
Yisrael Harel – former editor of Nekudah; served as director general and chairman of the Yesha Council
Dr. Nitza Kalish – psychologist specializing in crisis and stress management in Yesha
Hezi Kalo – former head of the Jewish Division of the Shin Bet (notably during the period of Rabin’s assassination)
Professor Nurit Kliot – Department of Geography, Haifa University; researched the social ramifications of the Sinai evacuation and specialized in studying effects of evacuation and uprooting
Dr. Mooli Lahad – expert on crisis management and stress prevention; established the Community Stress Prevention Center at Tel Hai College
Benzi Lieberman – chairman of the Yesha Council
Miriam Shapira – clinical psychologist; established a crisis center at the Samaria Regional Council; resident of Karnei Shomron
Rabbi Danny Shilo – spokesman for the Yesha Rabbis Council; resident of Kedumim
Professor Ehud Sprinzak z”l – founding Dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya; expert on Israel’s radical right
Special thanks to Dr. Nitza Kalish for calling my attention to a number of studies on the results of evacuating the settlements in Sinai. These studies aided my work considerably.
If there are any errors in this position paper, they are solely my responsibility.
Y. S.