Right-wing activists and settlers plan to hold a mass rally next week with the army's permission in Homesh - the site of a former West Bank settlement. The Yesha Council has taken the unusual step of calling for the rebuilding of evacuated settlements in the West Bank and Gaza.

The Yesha Council, representing municipal councils of Jewish communities in the West Bank, was also one of the parties that requested the Israel Defense Forces' permission for the rally, which will include Homesh First - a movement of evicted settlers.

The Yesha Council had previously refrained from participating in the events organized by Homesh First, which is seen as opposing the council's policies.

	Advertisement

The decision to permit the settlers to march to the ruins of Homesh was made by the IDF General Staff - presumably on instructions from the country's political leaders. IDF officers nonetheless criticized the decision.

IDF officers complained to Haaretz that the march would take up valuable resources as security forces deal with numerous security threats to settlements in the territories and in cities in Israel proper.

In the past, the Yesha Council refrained from calling for re-populating the evacuated settlements. In a recent position leaflet, however, it called for the reconstruction not only of West Bank settlements such as Homesh, but also those in the Gaza Strip which were evacuated in August 2005.

"Coming to Homesh is of the utmost importance both from a public and conceptual point of view," the leaflet read. It is part of a long-term effort that will eventually bring the bulldozers back to to Homesh. Only this time, they will be used for construction instead of destruction. We aspire and believe that Homesh will be built, as will be the settlements of Gush Katif in the Gaza Strip."

The planned rally will be the first instance of cooperation between the Yesha Council and Homesh First. This change in the Yesha Council's approach is also reflected in the organization's propaganda. Last week, the council began circulating a new book called "Disillusionment: They've Changed Their Tune."

The book contains quotes from prominent figures who had supported the disengagement plan, and who have allegedly admitted that it was a mistake. The people quoted include journalists Avri Gilad and Ilana Dayan, former Central GOC Central Command Yair Naveh, and even Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

The march will include activists from Bnei Akiva's various yeshivas as well as members from religious youth movements. The head of the Bnei Akiva yeshivas, Rabbi Chaim Drukman, told Haaretz that he regarded the state's consent to the event as crucial.

The march to the rally is slated to take place on Tuesday, June 12, and pass through Sebastia, which is regarded as the cradle of the settler movement.