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A young right-wing activist reads religious texts Sunday as Border Police stand guard at Nofei Hashmonaim in the West Bank. (AP)
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Last update - 21:46 30/09/2007
Most rightists leave sites of new illegal West Bank outpost
By Nadav Shragai and Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondents and Haaretz Staff

Thousands of right-wing activists and settlers tried to build five new illegal settlement outposts throughout the West Bank on Sunday, but most of the activists - many of whom were teenagers - left the scene by evening.

A few dozen still remain, and security forces prepared to remove them by force.

Four activists were taken into custody at Nofei Hashmonaim, near the West Bank settlement of Hashmonaim. Hundreds of rightists arrived at Givat Eitam near the settlement of Efrat in the afternoon, and began waving flags and building structures using stones already on site.

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Before most settlers left, security forces had been preparing to send in police officers to arrest the activists and remove them from the sites. The Israel Defense Forces had declared the planned sites a closed military zone, Army Radio reported.

In addition to Givat Eitam and Nofei Hashmonaim, the settlers took up positions at Hill 1013 near Halhoul in the Hebron region, the "Harhivi" outpost near Elon Moreh, and the "Shvut Ami" outpost in Samaria.

The right-wing movements participating in the operation are also planning a major march Monday to Homesh, a northern West Bank settlement vacated in 2005 as part of the disengagement from Gaza. The march is scheduled to continue through the Simchat Torah on Thursday.

"Sukkot is the holiday for setting up new homes in our land," said one movement leader, Arye Yitzhaki, who coordinated the activities at Givat Eitam. "This is not a new settlement. This is where we should have started building Efrat. God willing, this settlement will become an inseparable part of Efrat."

Efrat's leaders claim that Givat Eitam was supposed to be a neighborhood of Efrat, containing 2,000 housing units.

Yitzhaki, who was among the settlers evicted in 2005 from Kfar Yam in the Gaza Strip, said last week that the illegal activity at Givat Eitam and the five other locales was "the only way to get out of the alleyways and back to the main road, through the Land of Israel. We will keep building communities and redeeming territory in the land of the Patriarchs."

Yitzhaki was joined by Nadia Matar, head of Women in Green. Other notable figures included Daniela Weiss, head of Kedumim Local Council, and prominent rabbis.

Various rabbis have voiced their support for the operation, including the rabbi of Efrat, Shlomo Riskin, who is known as a moderate. Riskin called on Efrat residents to participate at Givat Eitam, a call that was seconded by other Gush Etzion rabbis.

In Hebron-Kiryat Arba, local rabbis, led by Moshe Levinger and Eliezer Waldman, issued calls for the public to accompany the operation at Hill 1013.

The IDF had set up roadblocks to prevent settlers from reaching Givat Eitam, but the settlers encountered little difficulty, as they parked their cars and walked to the sites they had decided to rebuild.

Couter-terrorism officials in the defense establishments told Haaretz they were worried that the need to employ personnel in keeping the settlers from building outposts could make it easier for terrorists to carry out attacks in existing settlements and in Jerusalem.
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  1.   The "CLASHES" are fully planned out by the police. 09:30  |  Diego Sanchez 30/09/07
  2.   all Israelis must obey the law 10:05  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 30/09/07
  3.   Policde violateFreedom of Residence signed by Govt. 10:33  |  sam 30/09/07
  4.   Here they go again..... 10:54  |  Esther 30/09/07
  5.   israel needs 500 outposts not just 5 to make an impact 11:06  |  victor hardman 30/09/07
  6.   2700 year old con job still causing a big nuisance 11:13  |  The End Is Nigh 30/09/07
  7.   I love these guys 11:22  |  Natallie Durson 30/09/07
  8.   let the Palestinians take care of them 11:37  |  Leona 30/09/07
  9.   All Arabs must obey the law as well... 11:49  |  Yonatan 30/09/07
  10.   #8 leona and the rightful owners 12:13  |  victor hardman 30/09/07
  11.   Natilie, I love these guys,too. 12:54  |  akiva (zionist) 30/09/07
  12.   #9, Yonatan. And I wouldn`t be surprised you believe it, too. 12:55  |  zmogus 30/09/07
  13.   This is a hoax,the israeli govt. is engaging in some cosmetic 12:57  |  lakshmi 30/09/07
  14.   simple solution 13:43  |  realism 30/09/07
  15.   #14 you are thinking of burma realism 14:18  |  victor hardman 30/09/07
  16.   Eitam is PART of Efrat! 14:47  |  Joshua Moesch 30/09/07
  17.   Belfastian outposts 15:06  |  Philip 30/09/07
  18.   Lets show the Syrians 15:28  |  Big Al 30/09/07
  19.   lakshma "this is just cosmetics" 15:35  |  sonia gandhi 30/09/07
  20.   lakshmi "israel has roads for jews only" 15:37  |  harijan 30/09/07
  21.   lakshmi "israel even torched one of their mosques" 15:42  |  ahmedinejad 30/09/07
  22.   lakshmi one can mine your messages for hours 15:44  |  raj babar 30/09/07
  23.   lakshmi one tiny complaint 15:47  |  dimple kapadia 30/09/07
  24.   zmogus and narcissism 15:53  |  tehran university 30/09/07
  25.   zmogus wanna bet? 15:55  |  alan tankel 30/09/07
  26.   1#3 Lakshmi re. Gershon Gorenberg`s text 16:04  |  Gregg 30/09/07
  27.   #10 Victor Hardhead 16:05  |  Labhras 30/09/07
  28.   Natalie Durson is another useful idiot 16:13  |  Ariel 30/09/07
  29.   victor hardman 15 16:13  |  realism 30/09/07
  30.   what does illegal outpost mean? 16:19  |  ecr 30/09/07
  31.   #more from the bogus mogus the unique people 16:22  |  victor hardman 30/09/07
  32.   #17the ancestors of these fanatics started it all 16:27  |  victor hardman 30/09/07
  33.   Biblical outposts R religious commandments 16:35  |  sam 30/09/07
  34.   It is Israel`s Land 16:50  |  Brod 30/09/07
  35.   The best defense is an offense 16:54  |  Tosefta 30/09/07
  36.   GO FOR IT PATRIOTS!!! 17:18  |  Leon Freeman 30/09/07
  37.   how easy it would be to stop it all 17:20  |  Peter Smith 30/09/07
  38.   TO THOSE AGAINST THE SETTLERS: 17:22  |  Leon Freeman 30/09/07
  39.   Illegal settlements 17:23  |  Hilda 30/09/07
  40.   how easy it would be to stop it all 17:26  |  Peter Smith 30/09/07
  41.   to laksmi 17:31  |  Hilda 30/09/07
  42.   How is this justified? 17:36  |  American 30/09/07
  43.   #34 toosofta how long has tveria been in the usa ? 17:44  |  victor hardman 30/09/07
  44.   if you guys need help just call 17:56  |  elonmoreh 30/09/07
  45.   wesphelia is that westphalia 1648 18:00  |  30yearswar 30/09/07
  46.   Why can the Jewish State live with a million Arabs... 18:07  |  Fortuna Benmayor 30/09/07
  47.   "prepared to counter"?? 18:28  |  David Teich 30/09/07
  48.   ONLY JEWS IN JUDEA & SAMARIA: IT`S OUR ANCIENT LAND!!! 18:28  |  Dora Goldman 30/09/07
  49.   38: Leon`s rationalizations 18:32  |  David Teich 30/09/07
  50.   # 38 leon 18:33  |  Axel 30/09/07
  51.   # 39 hilda 18:36  |  Axel 30/09/07
  52.   It is legal for Jews to live anywhere in our Homeland. 18:43  |  Chaim 30/09/07
  53.   Simple Solution - legalise the outposts 18:56  |  Feiglin supporter 30/09/07
  54.   Israel needs a different approach.... 18:57  |  Shalom 30/09/07
  55.   #38 Leon Freeman 19:11  |  Boycott 30/09/07
  56.   #17 Well spoken - a sensible post. 19:14  |  Don Camillo 30/09/07
  57.   how come... 19:40  |  ravi 30/09/07
  58.   I am a zionist and this makes no sense to me 19:58  |  Avi 30/09/07
  59.   To ravi: Under what law ? -please specify it- 19:58  |  Fortuna Benmayor 30/09/07
  60.   Chalutzim (Pioneers) of Israel 20:07  |  Nephtaly 30/09/07
  61.   #24, `tehran university` aka `sarkozy` aka `lithuanian`. 20:07  |  zmogus 30/09/07
  62.   #25, alan tankel. I`ll surely bet! :))) 20:17  |  zmogus 30/09/07
  63.   JEWISH RIGHTISTS BUT MUSLIM EXTREMISTS AND FUNDAMENTALISTS 20:18  |  Vin 30/09/07
  64.   zmogus and "chill out" 20:38  |  tehran university 30/09/07
  65.   Judea is Jewish, and so is Samaria - They aren`t a foreign count 20:39  |  Leon Freeman 30/09/07
  66.   Israel is a secularist state! 20:54  |  Avi Yerushalmi 30/09/07
  67.   Can`t they be sent to jail for a few years ? 21:11  |  Nicolas from Paris 30/09/07
  68.   Cipora My Nationalist friend 21:25  |  Gabe1 always 30/09/07
  69.   Biblical outposts R religious commandments+human Rts. 21:26  |  sam 30/09/07
  70.   fortuna benmayor 46 21:26  |  realism 30/09/07
  71.   zmogus i found your reply on your unpopularity 21:50  |  alan tankel 30/09/07
  72.   to the chameleon poster 21:54  |  hannah? 30/09/07
  73.   #64, `tehran university`, I may have a plausible explanation 21:56  |  zmogus 30/09/07
  74.   If the land belongs to the Jews they can build on it 21:58  |  chameleon 30/09/07
  75.   #31, victor hardman, confidential. 22:10  |  zmogus 30/09/07
  76.   I AM... 22:24  |  akiva (zionist) 30/09/07
  77.   Yonatan; which law 22:34  |  tim 30/09/07
  78.   #75mogus bogus i am pleased for your certificate of education 22:37  |  victor hardman 30/09/07
  79.   # 74 chameleon 23:03  |  Axel 30/09/07
  80.   Just leave them where they are 23:07  |  Yonatan