TEL AVIV - A fifth of all settlers slated for evacuation under Israel's pullout plan have signaled their readiness to leave by signing compensation deals with Israeli officials, a top government official said on Monday.
Meanwhile, a poll by the left-wing Peace Now group showed that 58 percent of Israelis support the pullout plan and 72 percent believe it will be carried out. About 40 percent support a proposal to allow settlers who refuse to be evacuated to stay in Gaza after the pullout without protection by the IDF, the survey showed.
The telephone poll was given to 501 Jewish and Arab-Israelis over the age of 18.
While hundreds of the some 9,000 settlers have sworn to resist the pullout, about 350 of the 1,700 families have signed deals for compensation and relocation, Yonatan Bassi, head of the Disengagement Committee that overseas the pullout, told President Moshe Katsav on Sunday.
Bassi added that a similar number of settlers, especially from three isolated settlements in
northern Gaza, are expected to submit compensation requests in the coming days.
Israel has promised to USD pay up to 500,000 per family, depending on its size and the value of its property or businesses in all 21 Gaza settlements and four of 120 West Bank enclaves that would be removed during the withdrawal, which is scheduled to start in August.
"There is intense dialogue with the residents," Bassi said. "Most of them will relocate willingly in one way or another to (the southern town of) Ashkelon."
Several settler families leaving ahead of pullout
Many families from three of the four West Bank settlements that Israel plans to remove have already signed compensation deals and left, a senior government source said, adding that he expects Ganim, Kadim and Homesh to be fully evacuated. But attempts to negotiate with the municipal heads of Sanur have so far been ignored, he said.
The Gross family from Elei Sinai, a settlement in northern Gaza, left their home on Sunday.
"On Friday, we took the little ones to their grandma, returned to Elei Sinai with the older child, met with friends, packed and cried," Molly Gross told the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper. "Surprisingly, we received many blessings and no negative reactions. We wanted to celebrate, not cause sorrow. The girls are happy and the little one is itching to get to our new house."
Most of the settlers who are expected to resist the withdrawal live in Gush Katif, Gaza's largest settlement bloc, Bassi said.
Residents of Gush Katif are largely religious and ultranationalist, and believe the West Bank and Gaza to be theirs by biblical birthright. Palestinians want the territories as part of a future state.
"Gush Katif is the most problematic," Bassi said. "About 1,000 of the 1,700 settler families (slated for evacuation) live there. There are discussions being held with many groups from Gush Katif settlements, but they haven't led to anything real. I hope most of the families leave willingly and I think it will happen during the last couple of weeks before the pullout."
Hotel living
The government has offered to house the settlers in caravans in southern Israel and six hotels until they move to permanent alternative residences.
Five hotels in Ashkelon and one in the north have agreed to house the settlers for free for a month an a half, after which they will have to pay their daily room rate to the government, the source within the committee said, adding that such a deal will cost Israel USD 8 million.
Managers at the hotels have promised to supply the settlers, most of whom are religious, with two kosher meals a day. Also, should the settlers cause damage to their rooms or any part of the buildings, the Defense Ministry will foot the bill, the source said.
Compensation delays expected
Ilan Cohen, director-general of Sharon's office, said more compensation requests were likely to be filed closer to the date of the withdrawal, and would therefore take more time to process.
"The (settlers) should therefore not be surprised if it takes two years to receive funds," he said.
Katsav told Bassi he was concerned over recent growing violence and hostility among pullout protesters. Israel evacuated a hotel in Gaza last week that security officials had said settlers had used to plan attacks to try and hinder the pullout.
Also, thousands of right-wingers have in recent months participated in road-blocking protests to demonstrate against the withdrawal, with dozens arrested, including minors.
"I am concerned about those..who are willing to break the law and use violence," Katsav said.
- Efrat Weiss contributed to this report.
